SpaceTime Ninjutsu Mess
by SpartanCommando
Summary: In another dimension one Namikaze Naruto barely survives his battle against Uchiha Madara. The result of their battle is the Uchiha forever traped in the dimensional void, and the Namikaze entering the world of Uzumaki Naruto. Slight AU Canon Shippuden.
1. Chapter 1

A Space-Time Ninjutsu Mess

_**Set midway through the Kazekage Rescue Arc of Naruto Shippuden. **_

**Disclaimer: I do not in anyway shape or form own Naruto Shippuden, or anything unique to it. The show and manga are owned by Kishimoto-Massashi. I think I do own Namikaze Naruto though, or at least the one in this fiction since as of yet Naruto hasn't changed his name in the manga.**

* * *

><p>Hoshigaki Kisame was a man who was used to all things strange. He did after all carry a sentient weapon, look like a living walking shark, and was partnered to Uchiha Itachi. The last one alone was something he didn't find so strange however. Despite that, and being an S-Rank Missing-Nin of Kirigakure, there were some moments when even he was found something that was weird even to him. He cited the large and creepy eyebrows that a certain ninja from Konohagakure had on his forehead as a clear example.<p>

While few things could possibly rival that encounter in all fairness, Kisame believed he had found one. Standing on the desert plains of Kaze No Kuni the Swordsman from Kiri found himself blinking several times to make sure his vision was not being clouded. The Swordsman detested the unbearably hot and dry climate and absolutely loathed the occasional mirage he had come across. After blinking a final time Kisame was certain of one thing…

"Yo, Kisame mind explaining to me why we're in the middle of a desert? And where is your hot and sexy partner?"

…There just had to be something wrong with the person standing before him. Kisame would have continued to stare at the figure were it not for the last question he had been asked. Uchiha Itachi, his certainly male partner, having been called 'hot and sexy' by a random man made his mind freeze up in shock.

"My 'hot and sexy partner' you say?" Asked the Swordsman as he looked down into a pair of bright blue eyes that were fairly familiar to him.

"Yeah. Jeez, Kisame you going deaf man? Oh wait I get it!" A finger was raised up to him as the man put on an arrogant and knowing smirk. "Your mind is still kind messed up after listening in on us that night at hotel in Nami no Kuni right? Can't blame you though old buddy. Your partner may seem like a willing mute at first glance, but as you heard that night, behind that wall of solid self control is a screamer. Come to think about it, I'm surprised that I still have perfect hearing after that night. Huh, good times eh?"

Kisame's blue skin seemed to turn a lighter shade as he suddenly felt ill. While he certainly would have remembered anytime Itachi got _laid_, the mental picture that found its way to him was most disturbing. As he shook away the disgusting thoughts from his mind, the Kiri Swordsman looked down again and found the man nodding his head up and down sagely with both eyes closed.

"Don't worry my friend, don't you go worry at all. I remember that discussion we had. I still haven't put that particular encounter into any form of literature yet. And I won't until the day you die." The nodding stopped as the man glared daggers at Kisame who looked even more confused. "But really, chasing me with Samehada out of that hotel seconds after we finished up and not giving me time to put something on? I mean I know your very loyal to your partner and all, but was any of that actually necessary? A simple attempt at the whole overprotective brother speech wouldn't have worked as well for you?"

"Pal, I know I should probably be one of the last people to say this but…Are you some kind of crazy?" Kisame deadpanned as the man finished. Surprisingly he soon dropped the glare and took on an exaggerated thinking pose; one arm draped across his chest while the other's hand cupped his chin and his eyes looking up to the sky.

"Now that you mention it? Yeah, more or less. I'm fairly certain that I am at least partially insane. Why do you ask?"

"…You are aware that my partner, to my knowledge at least, prefers women to men right?"

"Really? Oh, that just made all the sex even better!" The man suddenly took out a notepad and red pen from nowhere. "Now lets see how can turn that into literacy gold? Oh, how about, 'the audacious male lead discovers weeks after their passionate encounter that his most recent lover secretly preferred the comforts of supple female flesh', wait a minute. I still can't write this stuff down cause of you. You just had to go and reveal a tidbit of potential brilliance to me that I can't use, didn't you Kisame? That is just like you. Some biggest fan you are!"

"Who are you!" Exclaimed a somewhat freaked Legendary Swordsman of the Mist At that point Kisame actually felt that this man was easily weirder than the man with abnormally large eyebrows. The fact that the person was convinced that they knew each other had no effect however.

"Riiiiight." Drawled the man before morphing his face into one of disappointed frustration. "You don't know me? Fine I'll humor you. I am the author of the greatest series of romance novels the Elemental Nations has ever known; I am known by all my loyal readers as the heir to the Perverted Master himself, I am Kazuma Arashi!"

"…You know Jiraiya of the Sannin?" Kisame slowly asked.

"YES! I am without a doubt in my mind, his chosen successor to the Perverted Arts!"

"Okay then. I think I'll just get moving again and pretend I never had this disturbing conversation. This has to be some kind of detailed mirage that I am going to hate myself for talking to." With that Kisame turned and walked around the confusing figment of his imagination which had plainly walked up to him and mentally disturbed him.

"Oi! Kisame! Where are you going?" Shouted out Arashi.

"To make a mess out of some group of ninja's day."

"Can I stay and watch?"

"Why?"

"You always make fights entertaining."

"Fine, but if you get involved in it you better-"

"I get it. Quote, 'I better know how lucky I am' now unquote. This isn't the first time I've seen you fight someone you know."

"Sure it isn't." Kisame said as he found a place to wait out the Konoha team arrival, before he muttered something under his breath. "Stupid desert and its detailed mirage lies."

* * *

><p>Namikaze Naruto leisurely walked away from his old friend with his arms still in his practiced thinking pose. He was curious about Kisame's seemingly genuine lack of recognition upon speaking with him. Usually when he and the Kiri Shinobi crossed paths one of the first things asked was whether or not Naruto had a new book on hand. That lack of a traditional question prompted Naruto to use the pen name that he used to write his novels.<p>

Even after identifying himself as Arashi Kazuma there had been no recognition in his friend's eyes. Worse, there hadn't even been the regular kouhai honorific his one time teacher usually added to his name. The only sliver of their connection that he could gleam was when Kisame first locked eyes with him. Even then, all he could see was the faintest sort of having met perhaps once before in the Swordsman's gaze. That was disturbing thought, almost as much as waking up in a desert. And just as bad as seeing Kisame without the ever lovely and dangerous Uchiha Itari.

The former heir to the short-lived Namikaze Clan failed to suppress a perverted giggle as he thought of the Sharingan wielding woman. His oldest friend and teammate, first crush, one time fiancé, and the best woman he had ever had the pleasure of sleeping with. And their last night togetherstill remained burned into his memory. He loved the fact that neither of them ever let themselves get drunk. Being drunk always fogged up memories, according to Ero-Sennin.

"Oi, what is up with the giggling Arashi?" Called Kisame from where he had turned his back on the blue skinned Swordsman.

"Having awesome crazy sex with your hot partner in a hotel shower is too much of a great memory for me not to Kisame-senpai!" Naruto said as he looked over his shoulder. For whatever reason the blue man's skin seemed to pale upon hearing that and he held the short lasting stare with the Namikaze for a mere second before then turning to look in another direction. Curiously he also brought his hand up to what Naruto assumed was his mouth.

_Huh, I didn't know Kisame could change his color so fast. Still cool how he loses instead of gains color when I mention banging Itari to him. Makes it all the more unique when compared to Sasuke's response when I first told him his big sister was just as great in bed as she is with everything else she does. And definitely better than when their dad fainted after he walked in on us. Man that was a great way to end the celebration for me making ANBU Captain. _

It probably was for the best that Itari was not with Kisame at the moment. After all it had been over a year since their last _encounter_. And considering he didn't have a bloodline to make a wooden house like some people, there would be a place for them to get reacquainted with each others bodies. Unless she had some secret fantasy to have sex in the open desert that she had yet to tell him, at least that is. _Note to self; file that last though away for my next book. It has potential. Wouldn't you agree Kyu-_

Naruto abruptly stopped walking as soon as the thought did. The Kyubi no Kitsune, the Nine Tailed Fox and most powerful of the living Biju. The Demon that had been sealed within him on his mothers' death bed at age seven, and only rediscovered three years ago when he had first began searching for the memories he had lost. Memories that were lost as Orochimaru had forced him to forget much once the Sannin had finished experimenting upon him. Surprisingly the memory of being the Jinchuriki for the Nine-Tails had been hidden away deep inside his mind after the trauma he sustained from the forced tranformation into the Demon form itself.

The very same creature, whose mindless body was now slowly coming apart within him, that was slowly killing him despite being all but dead itself. Even now he could feel the traces of demonic chakra beginning to poison the cells in his body and his own chakra supplies. The seal which had held the Fox for so many years constantly now caused a burning pain that spread over his entire body. And worse; what was left of the Fox's power was at most only about five and a half tails of chakra left. An amount that was decreasing at a consistent rate that could not be slowed down by any means.

He supposed that in many ways he was quite fortunate for a Jinchuriki. He was the last surviving one after all, and if not for his Akatsuki allies would have been just as dead as the other eight. His only wish was that there had been a better way to stop the extraction of the Kyubi from his body. Unfortunately the only way had been to actually cut the chakra transfer after the extraction process had already begun. The result had been Naruto surviving, but the Kyubi's mind being destroyed as well and leaving a vegetative body behind. Considering that a Biju was a mass of sentient chakra for all intents and purposes the only thing keeping their bodies together was their consciousness. Meaning that without one it was inevitable that the remaining chakra within his body would either be released upon his death and bring a new weaker Fox into existence, or slowly poison him.

Regrettably it had been the later that had occurred. As he slowly walked up a fairly tall rock formation Naruto realized that for the first time since being captured he could actually think on his situation. Aiding his Akatsuki rescuers battle the army of ninja Uchiha Madara had under his command, and then the man himself at the same time was a test of his skill and determination to survive.

Naruto knew that he barely survived that battle with the living legend two days prior. If he hadn't been able to combine two separate Space-Time Ninjutsu to make that impromptu trap at the end, the Namikaze had no doubts as to who would have been the victor. Uchiha Madara was far above him in every way imaginable; excluding perversion that is. Even with the surprise arrival of Itari on his side hadn't evened out the difference in skill.

As he reached the top of the formation Naruto dropped backfirst onto the rocky surface. A relieved sigh escaped him as he allowed the bliss he felt from simply laying there to overcome his senses. The rock was at a nice temperature considering its location; meaning that it was hot but not enough to slowly boil his skin if he did not move for long periods of time. There was even a faint breeze that tickled his skin and pulled at his dirty blonde hair.

_That reminds me_, the Namikaze thought ruefully, _I need a shower right away. Not to mention a nice change of clothes to go. Stupid Space-Time Ninjutsu mess, making my clothes even worse than they were just fighting Madara. _

Naruto raised his head and looked down at his now near ruined outfit. The red trench coat he often wore was missing, lost in the fight before he had been captured by Madara's forces. The black, Suna influenced, flack jacket he wore beneath it was shredded to the point where it only covered a small fraction of his body and was now useless. The black shinobi pants he wore had somehow remained intact for the most part. The right pants leg was missing below the knee and the painted red foxes on the sides of both legs were covered in enough dirt and sand that they were nearly invisible.

The bandages he had wrapped around both forearms had been removed after they both caught traces of the black flame that had nearly burned him alive. The black fingerless gloves he wore on each hand were still in place and in reasonably good condition. Both of his blue shinobi sandals were much the same as well. The thin, but lightweight metal, Hotoke Do he wore under the flack jacket was covered in hundreds of scratches and burns from his recent battles. There was even a dent, at the center of a large series of cracks, from where the Uchiha clan founder had managed to deliver a powerful kick that knocked him to the ground and nearly ended their fight then and there.

The leather Menpo face mask he wore was in the best shape of all. The only reason it was in such fine condition was that he had only put it on after waking up in the desert earlier yesterday. Slowly he reached down beneath his chest armor and pulled out a black ribbon. After he had a better grip on the black fabric Naruto pulled out what it was attached to; his old Konoha shinobi Hitaie. The metal was rusted and covered in small nicks over its entire surface. Two prominent lines crossed over the leaf symbol in the center. One from when he had left his village for good, and the other from when Itari had first found him after that.

Not even fighting Madara had the same level of fear as seeing the look of anger on Itari's face for the first time.

With a noticeable reluctance to get up, the last living Namikaze stood up and pulled out a scroll. Pausing for a moment the blonde reached down and picked up a pebble. He then promptly threw the small stone at the resting Swordsman who had his eyes focused on the bandaged sword. The pebble landed at his feet and caused him to look up at Naruto with a questioning look. Naruto then made turn around gesture before pointing first at his ruined appearance, then at the scroll, and finally made a show pretending to get dressed. Kisame made a disgusted sound before turning his head to avoid seeing the curious man change.

Satisfied with his response, Naruto quickly placed the scroll down before flattening it out. After making sure there were no creases in the paper he then raised his left thumb to his mouth and bit down. The Namikaze then lowered his bleeding thumb to the scroll before swiping it across the seals. Immediately the scroll burst into smoke and he slowly stood up. Before the smoke had fully dissipated he had already removed his pants, the remains of his flak jacket, his face mask, and blue sandals. When the smoke was gone and revealed his new clothes Naruto was only wearing a somewhat old and worn black Konoha Shinobi uniform with a faded red swirl on both sleeves.

The Namikaze gazed at the crisp and clean clothes, perfectly folded before him. His fathers' old clothes, the ones he preferred to wear as much as possible instead of the Hokage robes. Naruto had always felt attached to chosen attire of his father; which consisted of a standard Konoha-nin uniform, including the iconic two bands of both sleeves, and a Jonin flak jacket. The white short-sleeved trench coat that was worn over his normal attire after being elected Hokage. The coat also had the flame-like designs on the edges that had always fascinated him, along with the kanji meaning 'the fourth fire-shadow' written down the back.

For some reason or another, many of which he made himself, the Namikaze had never felt like he was ready to wear them. Naruto smiled down faintly as he thought of his late father and hero before looking up into the clear and open blue sky. His mind wandered to the questions that had never left his thoughts for long since he left his village six years earlier.

_I bet dad never saw me becoming a Missing-Nin coming. Wonder what he'd have thought about that? Mom would probably have told me to make my own choices no matter where they led. Dad though…Would you be disappointed in me father? I've had to kill Shinobi and Kunoichi from our village sent to hunt me. I almost _killed _Kakashi-Aniki the last time we met. _

Naruto shook his vigorously to stop himself from feeling depressed and begin to doubt himself. One of the earliest things he had learned was that those who doubted themselves, tended to be the ones who never got to get off the ground after they landed. Looking back at the clothes, he felt the urge to put them on for the first time. Crouching down he picked up his fathers Joninflack jacket and slipped it on first. After zipping up the jacket he then picked up the white coat slowly. Unfolding it Naruto held it before him and looked the kanji written on the back. He lovingly moved his fingers over them as memories of the time he had spent with his father came to the forefront of his mind.

The pain of his loss still felt fresh to the twenty-two, almost twenty-three, year old man. Namikaze Minato, the Yondaime Hokage, and Konohagakure's Yellow Flash, was murdered the same day Naruto had become ANBU Captain on his fifteenth birthday. Just hours after he had walked in on his newly promoted son, and soon to be daughter-in-law share their first real kiss. His father had laughed warmly before embracing his 'fully grown fishcake', kissed Itari on the forehead, and then pulled them both into a final picture with him. Soon after Orochimaru had lured him into a trap where Naruto was captured and became one of the Sannin's many experiments. A year later during the escape of the damned Snake a crazed, Naruto admitted he had grown somewhat insane over that year, Namikaze left the village soon after. But not before he broke into his father's memorial and took the clothes and scrolls from the family vault.

A single tear fell down his cheek before landing on the stone below.

Without even making an attempt to wipe the tear streak away, Naruto reverently put his arms through the sleeves and then tied the small orange rope on the front to secure the white coat. Picking up the four bands Naruto soon moved two of Minato's bands onto each of his sleeves. Lastly were the blue shinobi pants and pair of black sandals; each made of the same design as those worn by his father. After putting these on the Namikaze placed the ends of the pant legs into the sandals before wrapping them under some spare bandages in the scroll. After straightening back up he realized that one thing was still missing.

Sighing he picked up the headband from where he had left it. The Namikaze then pulled his hair up slightly before slowly tying the headband onto his forehead. Letting his hair down he pulled out a kunai to take in his appearance. To his joy Naruto looked almost exactly like how his father did, years ago. The only difference he could see was that his father had jaw length bangs on both sides of his face, while Naruto's own were uneven after having them cut by a stray shuriken. In addition he also had the fading whisker marks that had appeared when the Kyubi was first sealed within him. A pity really, women thought those marks were cute. Deciding to fix what he could, Naruto used the kunai he had been using to reflect his image to cut off what was left of his own jaw bangs. They would grow back soon enought to their proper length, and then he could be mistaken for a clone of his father. Putting back the kunai in the flack jacket he then dropped back down on his back, arms and legs spread out. He started to blow on some of his blonde bangs which fell down over his eyes. It was as he closed his eyes that Naruto felt the familiar feeling of boredom creeping over him.

"Kisame!" The blonde called out lethargically.

"What!" Was the reply from the feared Kiri Swordsman. The Missing-Nin had chosen to wait for the team from Konoha by leaning against a large rock with his precious sword resting on his lap. His head was propped by a single hand as he sat bored as well.

"I'm bored over here! When are those ninja you mentioned going to be here?"

"Sometime soon I hope. I'm getting bored here as well."

"Do you have a bingo book on you by any chance?" Asked Naruto randomly.

"Why do want one?" Kisame asked more to pass the time than out of curiosity. Aside from shark fin soup, the one thing Kisame hated more than anything was waiting for a fight to come his way. He much more preferred going out and finding one himself.

"I want to see who made S-Rank recently. Maybe I'm on their now. Who cares? Do you have one or not?" Naruto said in response along with an underlying amount of a whine in his voice.

"Actually I do kid. Not the most recent thought, this one came out about two months ago." Kisame finally answered the original question. Suddenly a feral grin crossed his shark like features as a thought crossed his mind. There happened to be a picture of Itachi in the bingo book he was about to toss over. Considering what the curious person had said of his stoic partner, Kisame wanted to see what kind of reaction seeing that picture would get.

The S-Rank criminal calmly stood up to his full height before reaching into his Akatsuki cloak. His hand found the lightweight book easily enough and soon pulled it out. His predatory eyes located where the curious Arashi had gone to before cocking back the arm with the book. Once he had found the blonde with the mildly familiar blue eyes, Kisame launched the book without warning.

Naruto not hearing a response began lifting his head up as he heard something cutting the air as it moved. Looking around he saw the incoming bingo book fast approaching. Blue eyes widening in surprise Naruto shouted a single word before being struck in the face.

"KISAME!"

As the sound of paper smacking flesh rolled over his ears Kisame barked out a guttural laugh as he heard the man begin cursing him under his breath. For whatever reason, there was something about the Arashi that interested the blue skinned man. Some part of him hoped that the man was some unknown quantity with S-Rank skills that had gone unnoticed for whatever reason. If so then perhaps the interesting blonde could be a potential candidate for Akatsuki if one of the current members were to meet an untimely end.

"Oi, Arashi!"

"What is it?"

"You interested in joining the Akatsuki?"

"Been there, done that, had a blast, met fine women, and learned a lot."

"…Say what?"

"Since when is Zabuza down to a lowly B-Rank status?" The Namikaze asked at the same time. "Last time I saw him he was the Mizukage, what happened there?"

Kisame continued to hear the man ramble about many of the ninja in the book in confused silence. Zabuza? The Mizukage? Arashi a one time member of the Akatsuki? Shaking his head the Swordsman began to accept that there Arashi was not a mirage. Kisame was not dehydrated enough to have his mind seeing something as messed up as that man was.

Turning to face the stone he had been previously resting against Kisame lifted Samehada up and onto his right shoulder. Samehada sensed a nearing source of chakra that tasted odd to its own opinion. A familiar kind of odd chakra.

"Oh, so the green freak with massive eyebrows is one of those coming?" Kisame asked his sentient sword.

"Maito Gai?" Naruto asked as he turned to another page in the bingo book. Some of what the young Namikaze was reading did not seem familiar at all. He didn't recognize half a dozen of the faces that he had seen already, and they were A-Rank or above. That was too many to be included in a two month period without a war going on at the same time.

"Who?"

"You said and I quote" Naruto halted as he tried to copy the voice Kisame had. "'The green freak with massive eyebrows is one of those coming,' unquote. I only know one green freak with those kinds of eyebrows personally. Like I said, Maito Gai."

"So that's his name, ne? Maito Gai. Wonder if he remembers me?" Kisame said thoughtfully.

* * *

><p>(Several minutes later, unknown desert in Kaze no Kuni)<p>

"Huh, I recognize some of those guys. Who were they again? The one with the bulging veins around his, Neji I think?" Naruto said before flipping back several pages. "Ah, yeah here he is. Hyuga Neji, bla bla bla, rank Jonin, bla bla bla, master of Hyuga Kekkei Genkai? At his age? Impressive. And the girl is named TenTen; wait wasn't she on Itari's team when she first found me after my exit from the village? And who the heck is that third guy? OK, I know he had to have stolen those eyebrows of his. One guy with those massive things is probably a genetic abnormality, but two? Impossible, got to be stolen somehow."

After just receiving the bingo book the team of Konoha ninja arrived minutes later. Kisame had already shown off his skill with Suition jutsu when he used an underground spring to cover the immediate area in his best element. At the present moment the Konoha forces were each on a seperate rock for each of them. At first glance Naruto gave the victory to Kisame due to his knowledge of the man who helped him learn how to really wield a sword.

With a relaxed movement Naruto turned to a new page with no regard to the opening moves of what he believed would be a short battle. His eyes caught one particular line almost instantaneously. _'Uchiha Clan Massacre'_, was printed clear legible kanji. The former Namikaze heir's heart thumped in his chest as his blood ran cold. Two months old, that was what Kisame had told him. Perhaps he had been out of it for that amount of time, it was possible given the trauma the attempt to remove the Kyubi caused him.

Two months ago Naruto wasn't very update with the goings of the world either. That was when he was being constantly pursued by ninja under the commando Madara, as well as Konoha hunter-ninja. During that time he had stayed as far from civilization as possible to plan and stayed in his safe houses. Two months could have seen quite a few changes. With that in mind Naruto read quickly, desperate to find anything to sate his worry. The last time he had seen Itari was in their battle against Madara, and if she had been wounded she would have returned to Konoha, maybe even arriving as the massacre first started.

It did not look promising at all. From what the bingo book told, the entire clan had been wiped out save for one. Uchiha Sasuke, Itari's little brother and his would-be future brother-in-law. Naruto felt his heart plummet as it went out to the boy. Sauske couldn't have been more than twelve at present. Still the blonde kept reading and was determined to find out who was responsible. He soon found an answer.

Uchiha Itachi, heir to the Uchiha Clan and ANBU Captain. The elder _brother _to Uchiha Sasuke.

That was _wrong_ though, it had to be. With his engagement to Itari, who was the _real_ heir, Naruto had been required to know the names of all of his fiancé's fellow clansmen as well as their faces. He had never once heard of, or even seen, this Itachi. But according to the bingo book he was responsible for nearly wiping out the Sharingan, and his own clan. Finally Naruto came across a picture, as well as the man's current status.

"WHAT THE HELL!" Roared the now somewhat enraged Namikaze. He jumped up to his feet and glared down at Kisame's cloaked figure. The Swordsman as well as all four Konoha Nin had turned their heads in his direction upon hearing his voice.

"Yeah?" Was the annoyed reply from the Kiri Swordsman who returned his stare to the Konoha ninja.

"YOUR PARTNER IS MALE!"

"I know that!"

"What the fuck man! That's messed up, your partner is supposed to be Uchiha Itari, not Uchiha Itachi!"

"So you imagined Itachi was some kind of 'hot and sexy' woman when you slept with him ne?"

"Fuck that, don't even joke about that! What the hell happened to me? What happened to the world?"

"Nothing you're just insane Arashi."

"That can't be right!"

"You just thought my partner was a woman and not a man. Who you clearly insinuated that you had sex with, and that I heard you two together. I have never once heard Itachi do anything of the sort, and therefore there is only one real truth here. You are some kind of crazy, maybe not insane, but crazy none the less."

Team Gai continued to watch on as the Akatsuki member they were presently engaged in had some kind of argument with an unknown person. As they located the other person with aid from Neji they all had different thoughts upon laying eyes on him.

_It can't be! He looks exactly like Yondaime-sama! _Were the thoughts of the Jonin Captain, Maito Gai.

_This man, his chakra looks familiar. But I can see something odd being leaked into it from within his body. Regardless, I should tread carefully. His chakra reserves are just as large as Naruto's are. _Hyuga Neji, prodigy of one of Konohagakure's most prestigious clans.

_It is strange…For whatever reason, I can not help but feel that his Flames of Youth are the same as Naruto-kuns'. _Silently thought the Taijutsu specialist, Rock Lee.

"He looks hot." TenTen said out loud as she took in the man's appearance. At the questioning looks from her teammates and sensei the weapons specialist narrowed her eyes slightly and crossed her arms. "What? Just because I take being a kunoichi very seriously I can't act like a normal girl every once in a while?"

"TenTen, he could be an enemy." Warned Neji before he looked to Kisame and this Arashi with looks of equal caution.

"Enemy or ally, it still doesn't make him any less easy on the eyes Neji-kun." TenTen quickly retorted before seeing the strange man look directly at her, his arguing with Kisame seemingly over. His eyes looked her up and down before smirking as they lingered on her chest. Team Gai's sole female member blushed brightly before pulling out a kunai. "I take it back, good looking or not, he has to be a pervert and I hate them."

* * *

><p>Vocab: Hotoke Do- The Chest armor worn by members of ANBU Black Ops<p>

Menpo- Basically the face mask Kakashi wears, its a type of armor that is supposed to cover your your nose, lower face, and neck areas.

Please note, The extradimensional Naruto is ex-ANBU. For the most part all of his things were damaged and discarded in his battle against his dimension's Uchiha Madara. And he did not kick Madara's ass, just trapped him. In my opinion, thats a victory, but at the same time not because he could not kill and end his threat. Anyway the ANBU outfit will make a comeback later on.

* * *

><p><em><strong>AN: Hey all. This is my first shot at a Naruto Fan Fiction, and I hope I did a decent job with it. Please leave a review or not, but please more than one word if you can. I don't mind getting single word reviews, but Its kind of hard to keep things awesome if all I have to go on are a bunch of reviews saying "Cool, Nice, Awesome, Liked, Good," etc and no idea what you're all talking about. <strong>_

_**For anyone wondering, this and the next chapter will be the only ones where I refer to Namikaze Naruto as Naruto. After the next one he will be known as Arashi Kazuma for the entire fic, except when he happens to be alone and drops the Arashi persona. **_

_**Note: He is not some kind of super ninja at all. At his best, which was before he lost the Fox, I'll say he would be on the same level Itachi was at when he died. Right now, he doesn't have the Kyubi inside him anymore and is injured. Even when he fully recovers, he can't get any more powerful that that. He still has quite a few tails worth of power but they will slowly disappear as the story progresses. Trust me, when he loses a full tail you're going to notice it. By the time the tails are all gone I'll say the best he can be is somewhere between Kakashi at his best, and Itachi at death. **_

_**His healing factor is also decreased, and I may or may not leave him with it as time goes by considering that its been a part of his body for so long that the healing may be something similar to a pseudo Kekkei Genkai. But it won't be like what the Canon Naruto has, Ex: If he gets stabbed by a chidori through the chest like Naruto did when Sasuke left the village, then it probably won't immediately kill him. But the healing factor won't be able to keep him alive for more than a few minutes without Medical Ninjutsu. **_

_**Also, he doesn't have a Summons Contract with the toads. For reasons you'll find out later he can't thanks to what Orochimaru did to him. There's actually two things, but I'm not really sure which I'll reveal first. I like both a lot, and they seem fairly original to me. **_

_**Also, pairings. I've got some ideas for some, decided already on others, and open to suggestions. Although I stress one thing. Itari is the Itachi from the dimension this second Naruto is from. There are a lot of things in that Naruto's life that are different from what happened in the Canon Narutoverse. Namikaze Naruto, and Uchiha Itari **_**are**_**engaged. The way I see it, the Namikaze clan is new and small in number. Likely in the other dimension consisting only of Minato, Kushina, and Naruto. Any group commanding a large amount of power, and how much more power can you get than being Hokage and his family, inevitably wants to stabilize their position. And the Uchiha, as the set in stone police force is perhaps the most stable group in Konoha. Better still, loyalty in the Uchiha clan is more to the village first than say the Clan head like in the Hyuga. Hook up the Namikaze heir with the Uchiha heir, and you've got a good chance of keeping the lineage alive and loyal at the same time. **_

_**And it doesn't hurt that Naruto would be related to the Senju clan distantly, it allows for a double bonus in that it shows that the Uchiha truly accept the Senju and to bury the hatchet permanently. And unless I'm mistaken, aren't Uzumaki's supposed to have a longer lifespan as well? Meaning any children born from Naruto and Itari would live for a good while and keep a good amount of influence. Influence that could benefit the needs of his/her mother clan in the future against say the Hyuga understand?**_

_**While this alternate Naruto may be a flirt, the Second 'Super Pervert', and utterly shameless, he does love Itari. So there won't be anything for him for a good while, if at all in this story. But regardless, he will be revealed as the last Namikaze and will be open for the CRA. Me using that for him in the story is highly unlikely, but a possibility depending on where I eventually steer this towards. **_

_**And it also depends on whether or not I bring Itari into the story at some point. And that is something I might just do, I mean c'mon. She is the female version of Itachi, if you paid attention became an ANBU Captain before Naruto. Ergo, she is as much a genius and prodigy as the canon Itachi, and she hasn't killed off her clan and openly showed off the care for her little brother. **_

_**So, not only would she be as good as Itachi more or less (No Mangekyo for her, because her best friend would be Naruto), she would actively try and bring Sasuke back to the village. Possibly even help him kill off her male self. Dunno yet. **_

_**Naruto N, is also going to be different from Naruto U, in many ways. But there going to be similar in a lot of ways. Here are just a few:**_

_**Similar Different**_

_**1. Both love ramen 1. N likes red/black, U likes Orange**_

_**2. Both want to be Hokage 2. N to follow his Dad, U to protect**_

_**3. They call Jiraiya Ero-Sennin 3. N like Jiraiya's nephew, U is legally Jiraiya's Godson**_

_**4. Both fell for their female teammate 4. N slept with his crush, U is still trying to get a date**_

_**That's just a few. There way more to be discovered. Oh, and by Jiraiya's successor I mean it. He has his own adult romance novel series that's just as successful. I fully intend to put that into the story just for the inevitable confrontation between the self-proclaimed Super Pervert, and the Second Super Pervert. **_

_**I think I should be able to update this thing every two-three days for the next week at least. I already started on two more chapters besides this one. After that updates are going to be up in the air. I'll try and keep them coming at a consistent rate. In addition, every **__**fifth**__** chapter will be a QA chapter. Any questions left in reviews that I can answer without spoiling the story, I will answer. Every **__**fourth**__** chapter, I'll wait two days before putting up the QA chapter. No later than that, and PM questions don't count. It has to be in the reviews. **_

_**One last little thing. While this is the canon Naruto world, its not 100% canon. For example, and don't ask when, Zabuza is still alive and will be a major part in this later on. There are a few things here and there besides him, but by and large everything is still the same mostly. **_

_**Oh almost forgot. The alternate dimension Naruto has two primary elemental affinities that the majority of his jutsu will come from. Kage Bunshin is a given though, considering how awesome I think solid clones are. But anyway, to any reviewers. Please remember to put down two elements that you want him to use mostly, and the two I see most are picked. But nothing like Wood, or Ice. Maybe their respective parts, but those are kinda impossible to have unless you end up born with them, or experimented on like Yamato. N Naruto was experimented on by Orochimaru, but nothing that would give him something like what he has. **_

_**I think this may have been my longest AN for all my stories. Wow. Length of each chapter is going to be between 5k, and 6k usually. I can't pump out chapters as large as someone like Kenchi618 at his rate, I don't think I'll ever be able to do that. But I think 5-6k is reasonable for a length right?**_


	2. Chapter 2

A Space-Time Ninjutsu Mess

_**Chapter Two: Namikaze Naruto realizes that the Kisame he just spoke with isn't his senpai and decides to step in and take Team Gai's place against the Kirigakure Swordsman. **_

* * *

><p>Disclaimer: I do not in anyway shape or form own Naruto Shippuden, or anything unique to it. The show and manga are owned by Kishimoto-Massashi. I think I do own Namikaze Naruto though, or at least the one in this fiction since as of yet Naruto hasn't changed his name in the manga. Also, there may be parts of this story where I combine certain things from the English, and Japanese parts of Naruto. I also don't own the Fusion Sword that Namikaze Naruto uses closes to the end. That belongs to the designers behind Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children, a great movie in my opinion.<p>

NOTE: For this the beginning of this chapter is mainly from Team Gai, and Kisame's point of view, therefore N Naruto will be reffered to as Arashi Kazuma.

* * *

><p>"Kisame! Were you even planning on telling me that your partner was a dude? Or did you just decide to not tell me for some laughs? Because Kami as my witness, if you were I am going to hurt you badly. Senpai or not, no one messes with me!" Shouted the now named Arashi at the disinterested blue Kiri Swordsman. Hoshigaki Kisame refused to turn his head in the direction of the irate blonde man. Instead his kept his predatory gaze locked on the group of Konoha shinobi in front of him.<p>

"No, at first it was because what you said was weirder than what I'm used to. I was in some form of shock and disgust, though that soon passed. After that I decided to hand you the bingo book and let you find out." The S-Rank Missing-Nin from Kirigakure showed his sharpened teeth. "Besides, everything you told me is going to be loads of fun to tell Itachi about. And I fully intend to laugh at you later, after I finish these guys off of course."

"No, no, no, no." Retorted the white coat wearing man as he moved to cross both of his arms across his chest. "You are going up against me first, my mighty 'Tailed Beast without a Tail.'"

"And why would I want to do that Arashi? You may interest me, but right now I want to rip off half that guy's face for not remembering who I am." Kisame said while pointing at the tensing form of Gai. The Konoha Jonin narrowed his eyes as he prepared for the inevitable attack that the Kiri Swordsman was ready to make.

The Jonin's eyes drifted off to rest on the second unknown person on the battle field; the blonde man who very much resembled the late Yondaime Hokage, Namikaze Minato. Gai was well aware of the jutsu Orochimaru had used to reanimate the bodies of the Shodai and Nidaime Hokage during the Chunin exams nearly three years prior. 'Konoha's Sublime Green Beast of Prey' was also aware of the fact that the traitorous Snake Sannin was also an ex member of the Akatsuki. If he had informed the organization of his reanimation technique, then it was quite possible that the man standing on the rock was the reanimated body of perhaps the most powerful Shinobi to have ever lived.

That was reason enough for the Jonin to be wary of the man. Especially as the Yondaime look-alike reached down to open up a pocket on his flak jacket. To Gai's shock and growing sense of fear the man slowly pulled out a modified kunai blade. The man's index finger slid into the ring of the three pronged kunai and he allowed the weapon to swing slightly on the digit. Seeing that action alone nearly caused him to have a panic attack, especially as his eyes made out the markings on the handle and somewhat thicker length. The so called 'Arashi' turned to look at Gai and gave him a warm smile as he saw the comprehension in the Jonin's eyes.

"You remember exactly what this is, don't you Maito Gai? Well I shouldn't be surprised; after all, you were around the last time this thing was used I imagine." Arashi soon dropped his smile and became utterly serious. The resemblance to the late leader of Konoha now nearly complete aside from his lack of jaw length bangs on the side. The modified kunai was soon thrown in the air and caught in way that would let him easily throw the three-pronged weapon. Which he did and aimed just in front of Gai himself

"Team! MOVE!" Gai cried out as he prepared to guard against the inevitable attack. Never in his years as a shinobi had he assumed that one day he would battle against the legendary Hiraishin no Jutsu (Flying Thunder God Technique). The man disappeared from the rock he was standing on, and appeared near instantly in front of the group of Konoha ninja. All present stared in at the red and black flash that followed the jutsu, and as the man stood up. Flashing the members of Team Gai a vaguely familiar smile and lifting his right arm up for a thumbs up.

"Yo! Let's leave the formal introductions for later, just call me Arashi for now." Arashi said before moving to bring his raised arm back to his side and then turning his head to lock at TenTen for a moment, namely chest level. Bring his left arm across his chest and cupping his chin with the right hand, Arashi took several moments to observe the girl before giving her an appraising look. "I give them…Hm, an eight out of ten, also a ten for the cute face, and a seven for the body. You should try and wear clothing that reveals your womanly figure more often though; from what I can tell it would get a lot more attention sent in your direction. Aside from my complaints for that, you are an otherwise lovely kunoichi indeed."

TenTen sputtered as a bright red blush spread over her face upon hearing this strange, admittedly handsome as well, man comment on her womanly appearance.

"Oh, and an adorable face of embarrassment to? That's even better!" Arashi added as he then took a step back to avoid being nailed by a hastily thrown punch. "And a temper as well. I'm not sure I like that one so much though."

"Shut up!" TenTen shouted as she held a handful of shuriken ready to be thrown at the cause of her great embarrassment. Her anger was returned with a disarming smile of amusement on the blonde's part.

"Um, all right. By your command, my young and lovely lady." The statement was also accompanied by a formal bow at the waist from Arashi. Seeing the action caused a wave of confusion in TenTen and Rock Lee, although the two Jonin remained weary. Both the older Jonin Captain and his younger subordinate were most aware of exactly what they had just seen. Gai, from having seen the Yellow Flash perform it himself during the Third Great Shinobi War, and Neji, due to having heard of the justu from his father as a child.

However the man standing before the team was not the Yondaime Hokage; there were several subtle differences that were now noticed as Arashi stood no more than ten feet away from them. The famous jaw bangs that lined the sides of the famed ninja's face were missing; although there were parts of the blonde hair that looked as though they had been cut by a sharpened blade. His youthful appearance was more pronounced showing that he was several years younger than Gai, instead of nearly half a life time older. As a rough estimate the present Hyuga prodigy guessed him to be in his early to mid twenties at most. Curiously his eyes seemed to convey a multitude of emotions that none of Team Kakashi's reinforcements would have expected from his outward attitude. They could plainly see the confusion, worry, growing fear, and weariness all trapped behind his penetrating cobalt blue gaze.

As Gai continued to memorize the physical features of the man his eyes wandered up to the metal headband. Eyes widening Gai motioned for his now grown students to move back and behind him. His face morphing into one of disdain and disapproval the Taijutsu master fell into his typical ready stance.

"I am curious to know," began Gai as he focused on the movements of Arashi's body, searching for any indication of a possible attack. "Why a Missing-Ninja from Konohagakure is all the way here, in Kaze no Kuni?" Upon hearing the words of their former sensei, the other three members of Team Gai also became aware of the slashed leaf symbol hidden beneath the dirtied blonde hair. Neji activated his clan's bloodline and readied his Juken stance; Lee mirrored his mentor's own movements, while TenTen prepared to unseal a weapons scroll.

Arashi blinked upon seeing the somewhat hostile posturing of the ninja before him. _It took them this long to notice who I am? Oh…If I'm right about where I actually am now, then it stands to reason that these guys would have no reason to know who I am. Oh boy, time to run damage control and especially with that TenTen girl here. Last time I saw her I barely avoided a kunai below the belt._ With his silent soliloquy finished the former Konoha ANBU Captain slowly raised both hands in a harmless manner.

"Would you believe me if I told you I was trying to find out where my fiancé was by asking the blue guy over there?" Asked Arashi while hooking his left thumb in the direction of Kisame. The Akatsuki member bristled somewhat upon the 'blue guy' part, though he soon relaxed.

"At least he didn't call me a fish man." Grumbled one of the Shinobi worlds most wanted criminals. The Konoha nin, and the freak with the eyebrows who failed to remember him, paid no heed to his mutterings however.

"Why would he know anything about your fiancé?" TenTen asked, voicing the question held by her teammates at the same time. Arashi sighed before looking over his shoulder and sending Kisame a scathing glare.

"Because _technically_, he is my fiancé's partner. And the jerk didn't tell me something that a guy should be completely aware of before he starts talking about stuff!" Arashi shouted the last part at the now smirking Kiri Swordsman.

"Well Arashi, if you really want to get technical, then _technically_ _you_ started talking about my partner and what you did in a Nami no Kuni hotel some time ago first. I said nothing on the matter at all."

"Oh shut up, and how do you know I wasn't talking to your sword?"

"Samehada doesn't talk to strangers. For the most part, it's just me and him communicating."

"…Really? I was joking about what I just said, you know."

"I wasn't." Kisame deadpanned. Eyes blinking Arashi began processing the new information before shaking his head. Turning back to the Konoha force he raised an eyebrow as they were all looking at him in an odd manner.

"Didn't you say his partner happened to be another man?" Neji asked, his normally stoic face revealing a genuine sense of curiosity. A sentiment equally shared by both Lee and Gai; but not the female kunoichi whose eyes widened as her mind produced a possible scenario.

"Yes, I did indeed Hyuga-san. To be more precise his partner is the, or I assume at least, infamous Uchiha Itachi." Arashi said simply as though it meant nothing.

"Great." Mumbled TenTen who then sighed miserably before continuing. "Why are a lot of the hot guys I meet usually either not interested in relationships, or play for the other side?"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Hold up right there!" Shouted out Arashi as he suddenly appeared right in front of her. TenTen immediately stepped back, surprised by the man's speed.

"How did you get here so fast?" She demanded.

"I'm fast, now forget about that. I'll have you know that statement is a serious slander against my person. You should know that I am a hundred percent attracted to women. If I wasn't, would I enjoy doing this?" Asked the blonde man before promptly squeezing one of the girls' breasts twice. Ignoring TenTen's response of nicking his left cheek with a kunai Arashi's face took a rather thoughtful expression. "Huh, I suspected that they were real and I was right. I just had to be certain about that, so no hard feelings right?"

The red faced TenTen was barely restrained from attacking the man by the joint efforts of both Neji and Lee. Gai was about to berate the man for the inappropriate action he had just been witness to when Arashi brought a single hand up to silence him. Smacking the hand way the Jonin glared at the rouge ninja.

"That action was most un-youthful, even for a shinobi who has abandoned his village."

"True, I will not deny that statement. But it was the best, in more ways than one I assure you, to correct her on which side of the fence I stand on. Regardless however, shall I assume that you and your team are here to reinforce another team of your ninja forces?"

"Do you expect me to reveal information about any mission my team is undertaking?"

"I probably shouldn't no. Despite that, I will assume that your mission is similar to that if not exactly the same. Go on ahead, I have some business with Kisame to take care of." Arashi said before turning to face the Kiri Swordsman he was discussing. After picking the kunai he had thrown from earlier Arashi concentrated on his chakra flow and began transferring his own chakra into the kunai, which he then flipped and grasped in a reversed grip.

"Gai-sensei, perhaps he is right. We cannot afford to be slowed down if we are to complete our mission." Lee informed his mentor as Arashi pulled out a second kunai and repeated his action with it as well. Now holding two of the kunai in the same manner the blonde spoke up again.

"That sword of his eats up chakra, so my chakra blades should be able to match it as long as I keep channeling a steady amount through my kunai. Get going while I keep him busy." Ordered Arashi in a commanding tone without looking over his shoulder. "I can take care of myself, after all…I used to be an ANBU Captain."

_ANBU? If he really is an ANBU, and a Captain at that, why am I not aware of this man? Any time an ANBU abandons the village all Jonin are made aware of it as soon as the Hokage is made aware. Who is he? _Gai wondered silently before reluctantly nodding his agreement. Lee was right; Kakashi and his team needed reinforcements if they were going to be able to rescue the Kazekage alive. Despite feeling uneasy at allowing a Missing-Nin who could use the Yondaime Hokage's trademark jutsu to be at the backs of his team, Gai gave the order to move one.

Kisame made no moves to halt them however as he also prepared to battle the strange Arashi. The blonde man raised both of the three-pronged kunai at arms length and smirked at the Kiri Missing-Nin. The blue skinned man smirked in turn before hefting the massive bandaged blade from its resting place on its shoulder. The battle began the instant Samehada was plunged deep into the rock Kisame was standing on.

* * *

><p>Naruto was admittedly curious as to reasoning behind Kisame driving his sword into a rock. His questioning was soon given an answer as his instincts kicked in and warned him to roll to the left. As his body began to move of its own accord he heard the sound of something coming up from beneath the water reached his ears. The blonde felt the small spray of water droplets striking the rock and his own uncovered skin en masse. As he completed his roll Naruto's blue eyes caught the unmistakable wrappings of Samehada.<p>

A second rush from the water alerted him to another danger that he had no time to dodge. As a second blade came into his field of vision Naruto was surrounded by a cloud of smoke. The moment the second blade crashed through the smoke and into the ground where the blonde had once been, the Namikaze reappeared behind one of the two Mizu Bunshin. With an almost untraceable flick of the wrist his two kunai were launched at the back of the clones necks. Both clones collapsed in a small torent of water droplets. Kisame however did not wait for the water to fall to the ground before flying through hand seals; stopping at the Hare seal. Naruto's eyes widened as he quickly twisted in the air before he landed; what he saw was a maliciously grinning Kisame Mizu Bunshin whose front palms were facing outwards at him.

"Suiton: Suirō no Jutsu (Water Release: Water Prison Jutsu)!" Called out the Kisame Bunshin as the water from its two brother clones incased Naruto in a bubble of water. The moment he was trapped however the Kisame Bunshin keeping him in place was killed by kunai slash from the real Naruto. Helping his Kage Bunshin up to its two feet Naruto turned to face Kisame.

"Did you _really_ expect that to work?" Was the genuinely interested question from Naruto. The Kisame who had stabbed his blade into the stone simply walked around the bandaged weapon before shaking his head and dispelling, along with the sword. "Great, so where is the real one?"

"How should I know Captain?" Asked his own clone before grabbing the original by the arm and throwing him away. As soon as it had saved its creator the clone was promptly eaten by a massive water shark. Rolling in the air Naruto was able to land in a crouch and stay above the water. The shark seemed to realize its mistake before finding him and moved to attack its original targeted Naruto. Eyes narrowing, he began making hand seals; beginning with the Tiger seal and finishing with the Ram hand seal.

"Suiton: Suikōdan no Jutsu (Water Release: Water Shark Bullet Technique)!" He shouted out before the water around him rose up and formed an equally large water shark. The shark launched out to meet its fast approaching hostile counterpart. Both techniques collided and quickly canceled each other out. Slowly standing back up Naruto ran a wet hand through his dirty blonde air several times before shaking his head quickly to lose the liquid. "C'mon Kisame! This is too weak to be your real strength! Get serious!"

"Big words coming from a pup like you." Came the reply from behind him. Naruto cut off the flow of chakra keeping him afloat and fell beneath the water as Samehada cleaved through the air where his midsection had once been. Turning around he disappeared in a flash of crimson and black as Kisame soon went beneath the surface as well. His sharpened teeth showing, the Kiri Swordsman began to realize that his opponent was skilled indeed. _Well, well, well. I did hear him mention being a part of Konoha's ANBU, maybe that wasn't just talk after all. This is going to be fun, ha-ha. _As the water cleared up from where Naruto's form had once been, Kisame felt his eyes widen; one of the three-pronged kunai was floating in the water. Out of nowhere a second kunai with an explosive tag attach appeared alongside the Hiraishin Kunai just in front of his face and exploded.

From behind a well-sized rock Naruto felt the spray of water falling from the result of the underwater explosion. The blonde couldn't help but smirk as his newest jutsu seemed to work flawlessly. For the most part the technique was a modification of his fathers famed Hiraishin no Jutsu, minus a slight change in the sealing array. Instead of teleporting himself to one of his kunai it would use an explosive tagged kunai. The explosive tag kunai was teleported to the Hiraishin kunai just as it was about to detonate, allowing him to instantly send an explosive attack within inches of an opponent.

Considering how it was clearly successful beneath the surface of the water Naruto realized that he still had to give it a name. His thoughts were cut short just as he felt the rock shaking beneath him. Jumping high into the air the blonde saw Kisame destroy the rock from below as he was revealed standing on the water once again. Landing a good two hundred feet away from the Swordsman.

"You know what," began Naruto as he came to a standing positioning again. "I'm starting to think you're not the real Kisame. Your jutsu seem kind of weaker than what they should."

"Really? Then how strong should my jutsu be then Arashi?"

"Strong enough to make me sweat at least. Strong enough make me go all out at best. They aren't even near the at least mark. I think you can't have more than forty percent of the real Hoshigaki Kisame's chakra levels." Naruto said calmly. To his surprise Kisame began a completely real bout of laughter. Raising an eyebrow the blonde began to rub at the back of his head with one hand. "Was it something I said?"

"No, no, nothing at all Arashi." Kisame said between attempts to control his laughter. Shaking his head the Kiri Swordsman smirked right at his unusual opponent. "But I don't see anything wrong with telling you that you nailed it. I'm not the real Kisame at all, though you have it all wrong on my chakra levels right now. I'm running on more along the lines of thirty percent of my real reserves."

"Oh well." Naruto said with a shrug before smiling at the Swordsman. He did not have to have to go all out in this fight; meaning he was going to treat it as though it was one of his spars against the Hatake Kakashi he knew. Fighting against someone he knew could kill him if he got sloppy, but could relax somewhat. "Math was, and will always be, my worst subject. For some reason I keep having to use it though; its not fair at all I swear."

"Ha-ha. I like you Arashi, you're an honestly interesting person I'll give you that. Kinda cocky, but I have a feeling that's it is a well deserved kind of arrogance." Kisame replied as he once again hefted Samehada on his shoulder. "By the way…I have to know, what is your elemental affinity?"

"I was born with a strong affinity for wind and water. How do you think I'm able to keep up with you without a Sharingan like Kakashi or an Uchiha?"

"I'm impressed pup. There aren't many people who can go up against me when it comes to Suiton jutsu. For the most part, the only ones who have actually did have a Sharingan." Kisame said while he cracked his neck side to side. It was then that Naruto noticed the rips and tears in his Akatsuki cloak. _So then, that means he used Samehada to block most of the force behind my explosive tag. He may not be the Kisame-senpai I know, but he is clearly just as skilled even if that's not the real Hoshigaki Kisame of Kirigakure. _

"A complement from one of the Seven Legendary Swordsman of the Mist? Wow, now I feel all warm and fuzzy inside, thanks." Naruto said before bringing up a thumb to his lips and biting down for the second time that day. Moving his other hand up to his flak jacket he opened up one the pockets. A scroll fell out of the pocket and he soon opened it. "I think its time I try and finish this, and I know just how I'm going to do it to. Though you'll have to forgive me for any mistakes you might see; I haven't had much practice with Kenjutsu, unlike yourself."

As soon as the final words were out of his mouth his bloody thumb had slid across the entire seal. The scroll burst into a cloud of smoke after he threw it into the air. Stepping back Naruto held out his right arm and caught a large sword of comparable size to Samehada landed in his hand hilt first. The weapon consisted of a large red hilt and with an orange fox serving as the pommel. The blade itself was covered in lines that blended together and vaguely resembled something akin to puzzle from Kisame's point of view.

"What the heck is that? I've never seen a sword like that before, I have to say though; I like the way it looks pup. Very nice indeed." Kisame said approvingly as he took in the swords appearance.

The Akatsuki member then pushed his own personal weapon off his shoulder once again. The fight was beginning to get even more interesting to the Swordsman who grinned in anticipation of the coming battle as his hands began moving to make a single lone hand seal; the Snake. "Suiton: Bakusui Shōha (Water Release: Exploding Water Colliding Wave)!"

Kisame threw Samehada into the air before he tilted his head back. Manipulation his chakra within his body Kisame released an even larger amount of water. Combining with the water already surrounding them the jutsu created an even larger and more powerful wave. Finding his way to the top much the same as he had done with Team Gai, caught Samehada as it came back down to his hand.

Naruto took a deep breath before closing his eyes to calm himself in the face of the approaching tidal wave. Opening them up again he quickly summoned up two Kage Bunshin sans the hand seal. Hefting his sword across his back Naruto began running across the water towards Kisame and his assault while the Bunshin stayed back. The clones lifted up their own swords and began a series of unusual hand seals. They soon finished and lifted their weapons behind their backs before bringing them down in a swift slash.

"Fūton: Reigou Kirikaesu (Wind Release: Chilling Slash)!" The moment their swords came down a large wave of wind flew at the massive wave, avoiding the original Naruto by inches only. The wind slammed into the water and immediately began freezing the water from the impact point outwards. The wind chakra powered attack quickly overwhelmed the water chakra powering the attack and began to cancel out the power behind it. Kisame's face clearly showed his shock as his jutsu began to quickly slow in momentum.

Taking advantage the real Naruto leapt towards the Kiri Swordsman with the intention bisect Kisame at the waist. Seeing what his opponent had planned Kisame moved his own blade to block the attack. Catching his strike on Samehada's bandaged form and then pushed back. Naruto managed to deliver a chakra enhanced kick to Kisame's left shoulder thereby unbalancing the S-Rank Missing-Nin from his position. Continuing through with his assault Naruto then swiftly swung his blade diagonally at Kisame's other shoulder. The Kiri Swordsman managed to jump off before the attack could sever the arm entirely; although it did clip his shoulder.

The wave itself ceased to moved completely as the wind jutsu had finished its mission in halting the attack. Kisame landed on one side of the frozen wave and began to roll the shoulder blade Naruto had nailed. The arm was stiff and began locking up; the Swordsman knew it would be a few seconds before the arm was back to par however. Unfortunately, they were seconds he didn't have as he felt a pair of hands wrap around his waist from behind and hold on to him.

Suddenly a crimson and black flash met his eyes and Naruto stood in front of him; blade already moving to stab through him and the Kage Bunshin holding him in place. As the attack came, Kisame became aware of the seal that he had failed to see on Samehada's wrapping.

_Hm. So, this is it ne? This…This is what fighting the Yellow Flash must have been like._

* * *

><p>Kisame's eyes widened as his mind returned to his body. Feeling his sore muscles the large blue man began a series of movements to remove the stiffness. Cracking his neck slightly he looked off in the direction of where his fight against the man named as Arashi had occurred. A smirk crossed his face as he remembered the encounter.<p>

"Kisame. We are finished now." Came the familiar emotionless tone from his stoic partner; Uchiha Itachi. Hearing the caused a mischievous glint to shine behind the Kiri Swordsman's eye. "Kisame?"

"Hm? What is it Itachi?"

"While I was providing my distraction…I was interrupted by an unknown variable whom I was not aware of. An ANBU Captain from Konohagakure. Shall I assume you had a similar situation?" Kisame blinked upon hearing his partner's voice. In place of the emotionless monotone, was slight sense of surprise and an undertone of joy.

"Actually I was, by a Missing-Nin from Konohagakure by the name of Kazuma Arashi. You know…He said he was a former ANBU Captain as well. Itachi I heard you reached that rank by thirteen, you remember that name from somewhere?"

"No. No, that name doesn't sound familiar at all. I don't recall hearing about any Kazuma from either the Jonin, or Chunin ranks. But Kisame…"

"Itachi?"

"The ANBU was an Uchiha, just like me."

"…Well then…Looks like things are about to get interesting in the future then, ne Itachi?"

* * *

><p><strong><em>AN: Whoa, right on the money for length this time. Not counting the disclaimer or this AN I have like a few dozen below 5k words exactly in this one. I have to say, writing the banter between Kisame and N Naruto was actually the easiest part. It was the fighting that I wasn't exactly comfortable with though. On the other hand, I think I made a fairly believable original jutsu that sort of satisfies what some people wanted of an Ice Jutsu.<em>**

**_Fūton: Reigou Kirikaesu (Wind Release: Chilling Slash): My first original jutsu, and something I really think would be useful often. Reigou is Japanese for chilling, in the sense of cold steel. Kirikaesu literally means slash in the sense of striking back, a counter attack. I think that fits in well with what I had N Naruto do to perform it, and what exactly it did. I think I'll rate it as a B-Rank jutsu. Summary: By channeling wind chakra through a medium, the wind user is capable of launching artic temperature winds by swinging a blade of sufficient size. The jutsu then penetrates the first object of sufficient mass it comes into contact with and begins to freeze all liquid within. I'm sorry if that doesn't really make sense. If someone could, I'd appreciate it if they would try and explain it a bit better and send it to me so I can make an edit._**

**_Then there is also Naruto's modified version of his dads most famous move. I think it was explanatory, though I don't really have a name for it. Again, I could use some help with that. And the jutsu isn't just limited to explosive tags. The way I see it, if Hiraishin no Jutsu can teleport Minato due to the seals he place then why can't they be modified to teleport other things as well?_**

**_Also as you can see I made Naruto a Wind/Water affinity ninja. I was really surprised about this one, but it did let me do a lot more with is fight against Kisame which I think I did a good job with. Surprisingly, everyone gave the wind/water combo as one of their suggestions. Second most was a Wind/Lightning affinity. But don't worry, Wind and Water are only his primary affinities. I think I'll let you all think on what I mean by that. *Insert maniacal laugh*_**

**_Thanks for the reviews by the way. I think this is the most amount of reviews I've gotten in such short amount of time after starting a new story. Usually, I only get about four or five reviews before I put in a second chapter to a new story. Seeing ten-ten!-reviews before I put up a second chapter really makes me feel like I'm doing a good job. So thanks again._**

**_Also, yup. N Naruto has Clouds Fusion Sword from Advent Children. Good movie by the way in my opinion, I enjoyed Clouds use of it all the way to the end. Plus, in a way what he does with it at the end kind of reminds me of another blonde and his Yellow move. I am definitely going to incorporate its use into the Hiraishin no Jutsu, and subsequent variations. Oh yeah, on the note of the Yellow Flash's signature jutsu. There is no real explanation for why they called him the Yellow Flash for his use of the Jutsu, so I made an assumption that I will keep even if its not correct. The seals he used on the handle made a Yellow Flash whenever he uses it, so I had N Naruto work around that so it makes a crimson and black flash for him instead._**

**_Quick question btw, anyone have any ideas if one were to combine two different elemental natures into a jutsu? Because if Naruto can perform two Rasengan at the same time, what if one was wind and the other water? I'm really curious about that one._**

**_Other big surprise. For whatever reason, you guys seem to like the idea of Itari a lot. Like, not one single negative comment a lot. Just to clarify, they are the same age. Well actually she's a few months older but that's besides the point. Their dimension is different from the canon Narutoverse hence why the Sasuke they know is younger than the Sasuke in Naruto Shippuden. Anyway, I decide to reveal that yes she is in this story and world as world. Though will N Naruto find her son? No. I intend to have him looking for her be something similar to how important it is for Naruto to find Sasuke before Orochimaru can take over him, get it?_**

**_Please, take some guesses as to how Itachi really feels about another Uchiha still alive. His reaction now is just him being glad to know that even if Sasuke dies then the Uchiha clan can still survive without the two brothers. Whether or not he remains glad, that's to be decided._**

**_Man, I think I'm most nervous about how people are going to respond to my first real Naruto fight. Seriously, if it weren't so cold in my house I think I might be sweating. I mean, did I make it seem that Kisame was killed off way to easy, or did I not drag the fight out long enough?_**


	3. Chapter 3

A Space-Time Ninjutsu Mess

_**Chapter Three: The onetime Namikaze Clan heir discovers the true condition of his Tailed-Beast, and must find a way to conserve what remains of its power. **_

_**I will now thank DragonKnightRyu, who has some cool fics of his own, for becoming my new beta for A Space-Time Ninjutsu Mess just a few hours ago.**_

Disclaimer: I do not in any way shape or form own Naruto Shippuden, or anything unique to it. The show and manga are owned by Kishimoto-Massashi. I also do not own Uchiha Itari, she is a female Itachi created by BigCC, who also has a pic of her on is profile. I think I do own Namikaze Naruto though, or at least the one in this fiction since as of yet Naruto hasn't changed his name in the manga. I do not own Uchiha Itari, both the name and her appearance belong to fellow author BigCC. The Fusion Sword belongs to the team who worked one FFVII: Advent Children and, just to be safe, Square Enix. Also, there may be parts of this story where I combine certain things from the English, and Japanese parts of Naruto.

Early AN: To make it clear, Namikaze Naruto will only be referred to as such when he is alone or when in the presence of those who know his true identity. When Uzumaki is present at the same time; the younger canon Naruto will keep his name, while the older will be called Arashi. Sorry if that confuses some people.

* * *

><p>"Okayyy then." Was the statement from one ex-ANBU Captain by the name of Namikaze Naruto. The blonde son of the Yondaime Hokage blinked as he took in the appearance of the man who had replaced Hoshigaki Kisame. Despite having come to the conclusion that he had in fact not been fighting the real Kiri Swordsman, something which the man himself had confirmed, the Namikaze assumed it to have been a variation of the Kage Bunshin as the battle came to a close. However when he had plunged his own weapon through his opponents torso there was no smoke or any sign of dispelling normally associated with clone jutsu.<p>

What did happen however was the body morphing into a man of shockingly similar physical proportions to Kisame. The man had the lightly tanned skin tone which many Suna Shinobi developed if they were in a mainly administrative position. A long line and steady flood of blood cascaded down from his mouth and his face was adorned with numerous gashes and slight burns. His eyes were glazed and the pupils were missing entirely, leaving the pair of eyes stark white. The hair was even more dirty and unkempt than his own dusty blonde; a possible sign of either being a prisoner or constantly on the move. The fact that the man's face seemed rather thin and gaunt meant that Naruto leaned more towards him having been a very recent prisoner.

The question was thus very simple and straightforward in nature; whose prisoner had the man been? Considering that while still controlled by Kisame the man, or was is Kisame, had asked whether or not Naruto was interested in joining the Akatsuki was a good indicator of one possible group. Then again, considering his inside knowledge of the organization, it made little sense.

When he had been a member after leaving Konohagakure, Naruto was fairly certain that they had never taken prisoners. With the goals of the Akatsuki leader Yahiko being the end of the Amegakure Civil War, and as a direct result peace for the war torn nation surrounding it, any who surrendered were given two options. The first and most often taken was to die a quick and clean death. The other less common option had been to join Yahiko's forces commanded by Akatsuki. That offer was only extended to Shinobi and Kunoichi with at least A-Rank skills however, and was rarely extended.

_Then again,_ he began thinking. _This isn't exactly _my _world so to speak. Seriously; I just know I'm going to have problems remembering that all the time. _

Granted he had figured that out once he had seen the picture of Uchiha Itachi in the bingo book he was reading earlier. In addition to that, there was the now noticed observation of Kisame's appearance. The robes of Akatsuki were not the crimson cloaks adorned with black clouds; instead the design was reversed with a black cloak and crimson cloaks. Considering how Naruto had spent the better part of an hour conversing with Kisame before battling him, he felt fairly stupid for not noticing the change in detail. Especially considering how he had been made an ANBU Captain at age _fifteen_; and while he only held the rank for a day before Orochimaru of the Sannin captured him, Naruto was expected to be able to notice every minute detail of his environment. Often times it had been that alone which kept him alive after becoming a Nukenin.

If his hands weren't currently occupied holding up his own weapon, as well as the literal dead weight still joined to it, Naruto would have formed a Kage Bunshin and kicked his own ass for his mistake. That was when the young Namikaze remembered that he _did _still have one Kage Bunshin still alive so to speak. He hadn't received the transferred pain of being run through with a blade when he finished the fight with Kisame, it stood to reason that the clone was still around. Raising his head Naruto called out to the shadow clone.

"Oi! Why are you still around? Shouldn't you have dispelled by now since the fight is over?" Naruto asked his solid copy.

"Well excuse me for still _living_! The Hell Captain! Just because I happen to be a Bunshin does not give you the right to casually use me as a sacrifice! I'm a Kage Bunshin that actually has feelings you know." The clone retorted hotly at its creator. After an additional moment the Bunshin walked around the body still trapped along his own sword. Crossing its arms the Naruto clone gave the original a narrow eyed glare.

"You have got to be kidding me. _Another _clone with its own sense of self? You're the hundredth one this year by my count for Kami's sake!" Groaned the Namikaze heir before turning his head to glare back at the Bunshin with a matching glare. They held each other's stare for several heartbeats before the original broke off and released a frustrated sigh of defeat. His willful clone smirked before pumping a fist in the air as it reveled in the rare victory over its creator that some Bunshin occasionally were lucky, or blessed enough on their side, to experience. "Well if you're not dispelling yet, I order you to make another Bunshin and kick _his _ass for me. Kami, I feel so stupid for not figuring out we weren't in our world sooner."

"Sure Captain. I'll get on that right away. Actually, I think I'll just lay down and enjoy the clouds before doing that instead. It's not every day a clone scores a win over you after, and Kami be damned if I'm not going to enjoy myself before the feeling disappears."

"For the love of-oh forget it. Fine, be the smug bastard I usually am."

"Glad you agree Captain!" The clone said cheerfully before turning to walk off and leave its creator alone.

"Stupid traitorous Kage Bunshin." Grumbled Naruto as he turned his attention back to his weapon. The blonde slowly tugged at the massive sword still lodged in his opponents torso several time. After several test pulls to determine the best way to remove the large mass of Kiri-forged steel, he soon came to an unpleasant discovery. The blade had skewered the man in such a way that every possible way to pull it out would result in him being showered in a torrent of blood. With a tired sigh the Namikaze wondered why he had chosen to use a weapon he had little practice in using against his Kisame controlled opponent. If he had chosen to use either his ninjato or tanto then he could have exploited nearly two dozen possible points for a clean kill. Both were weapons he had used successfully since he first became a Chunin, and were designed for him to use chakra flow quickly and easily. The larger weapon he had opted to use however likely ripped apart many of the dead man's internal organs and arteries meaning that the blade itself was keeping the blood trapped in the body.

Suddenly he had a brilliant idea to get back at the Bunshin; and a grin that had struck fear in many Konohagakure ninja soon crossed his face. Naruto removed one hand from the red handle before gaining the clones attention by flipping it off; then he roughly pulled out the weapon. In the instant before the blood gushed from the dead man, Naruto had switched places with his last real active Bunshin. The clone gave a startled shout as it was coated in a layer of blood pouring from the opening in the dead prisoner's body. As it wiped away the blood from its eyes Naruto launched a kunai into its shoulder thereby dispelling it.

"And so ends disobedient Kage Bunshin one hundred." Commented the Namikaze before letting out a short, and in his mind at least, well deserved maniacal bout of laughter. Naruto then began a leisurely walk forward and bent down to retrieve both the sword and the kunai he had thrown. Placing the three-pronged kunai back in the storage seal added into one of his flak jacket's pockets, Naruto then dipped the sword into the water and washed away the blood. Once satisfied that his weapon was properly cleaned he sealed it away as well.

The former Namikaze Clan heir was about to leave the impromptu battle field before he realized something he had missed. Looking all around him in a haste he tried to find something he had stupidly thrown away in a cavalier manner. It was with a sense of annoyance directed at himself that he soon pulled out an additional kunai before summoning another clone.

"What'd ya need Cap-" Was as far as the clone got before noticing his creators grim expression. As the Bunshin raised his arms up in an attempt to protect itself a kunai found struck it between the eyes. A popping sound and smoke later and Naruto had taken out a second one of his own clones in a single hour.

"That felt most refreshing in my own humble opinion." Naruto said before shaking his head in momentary amusement. "Who am I kidding, that felt great!"

With the growing annoyance controlled the young Namikaze began to gather his chakra. Forming one of his staple hand seals he soon closed his eyes and expanded his chakra throughout the water. He could still feel traces of Kisame's own chakra within the small lake of water surrounding him. With practiced movements he cleared his mind and began to will his own chakra to overpower the remnants Kisame had left behind.

The dual elemental user slowly felt himself gaining more and more control over one of his primary elements. The action proved infinitely easier with the Kiri Swordsman and water master miles and miles away and no longer exerting any form of control over the liquid. Once he obtained sufficient control of his element it was fairly simple to return the water back to the underground spring where Kisame had used his own nature manipulation to bring up to the surface.

Opening his cobalt blue eyes Naruto exhaled his breath slowly as his chakra returned back to him. While he may have had an affinity for water, the Namikaze had a difficult time manipulating large amounts of it in the manner he had just done. He theorized that it was the same reason why it had been so unbearably difficult to climb trees and surfaces of water after he became the Kyuubi Jinchuriki; the massive amount of chakra. Although it may have been because he had also been born with a larger than normal amount of chakra as well. The point was that up until he had become a Chunin and began to practice controlling his dual affinities, he had terrible chakra control.

Even years after starting his training to control water under an ANBU known as Yamato it was still somewhat difficult for him to control the amount of chakra he released to manipulate the water around him. Nevertheless he felt happy enough that he could manipulate water as fast as he did; wind was twice as difficult to master and required him studying directly under Shimura Danzo from his eleventh year right up to the year before making ANBU Captain.

Smiling slightly at the thought of his perfectionist old war hawk of a wind instructor, Naruto then formed one of his most often used hand seals. Almost instantly a hundred Kage Bunshin appeared in a circle around him on the quickly drying desert ground. The original Naruto soon used an E-Rank jutsu to project his voice enough for them to all hear him at once. As long as he could remember the blonde had always hated having to repeat anything he said.

"Spread out over the whole area of our little skirmish and find my Hirashin kunai. I was a bit more reckless than usual this time around, and well…We need them and I'm too damn lazy to look for them myself. You guys do it for me, all right?" Naruto informed the mass of clones surrounding him. He waited a full minute for any possible questions before waving the force off. All one hundred disappeared in a swirl of leaves and left the original all alone. Narrowing his eyes he looked around for any Bunshin who had developed a will of their own much like the one from earlier. Noticing the lack of any smart mouthed comments, the blonde Namikaze nodded to himself in approval. "Damn I really have to figure out exactly how some of them get like that. Not knowing which of my clones may or may not obey me is really troublesome…Great, now I feel like a Nara."

His eyes looked up at the blue sky above him and blinked several times as he noticed there were no clouds above him. Shrugging his shoulders, and not caring about possible sunburn, Naruto looked around for several moments once again. His eyes stopping at the same rock formation which he had rested on up until he had chosen to fight Kisame. Deciding it was as good a place as any for him to wait up until his clones found the missing kunai, Naruto shunshin'd towards it. Coming out of the shunshin on his feet the blonde man dropped to the ground and closed his eyes.

* * *

><p>The Namikaze opened his eyes and he found himself in a tranquil and lush forest of tall trees. It reminded him of the forests around Konohagakure although grown to a much larger size. Getting up to his feet Naruto took in his surrounding before looking up wards and into the night time and clear sky. It had been months since the last time he had been in this forest.<p>

The forest was his own mental concept of the prison for the Kyuubi no Kitsune sealed within him. Craning his neck around the blonde could see the mile high mountains that lined the forest and had kept the Kyuubi sealed since his seventh birthday. From the distance he could make out the massive seals carved into the very rock itself that prevented the Fox from exerting too much influence of Naruto's actions.

Occasionally the Namikaze allowed the seal to open up somewhat when he went up against Genjutsu users; during such encounters he found himself using the anger and bloodlust as an anchor which he could focus his thoughts around and break the jutsu. Despite certain short blanks in his earlier memories, thanks in no small part to Orochimaru-teme, Naruto was fully aware how utterly vulnerable he was against any Genjutsu greater than a low B-Rank. At first he had been forced to physically harm himself in extremely painful ways to break free. Then in a, entirely accidental, dangerous situation he had found himself in the blonde unconsciously tapped into the dark emotions and thoughts that were the Kyuubi no Kitsune's own. Instinctively he found a way to take these negatives and turned them into a means to refocus his mind and break any high level Genjutsu placed on him.

Although he remembered how that use of the Bijuu's chakra was ended once he was placed on a team with a Sharingan, and therefore Genjutsu, mistress. Eventually he had been able to teach himself how to resist all but the most powerful of such illusions, using the Kyuubi only against powerful A-Rank and above Genjutsu. By the time he had rediscovered the powerful Kitsune after a particularly vicious and difficult battle it had ranted for nearly a week about how ticked off at him it was.

Then over a period of years Naruto managed to form a shaky partnership with his Bijuu that for the most part was to the liking of both parties involved. After the Namikaze had become a Nukenin and made contact with the Fox once again for the first time in years, their agreements were in dire need of repair and altercations. He and the Fox had reached an understanding in that upon his death he would release the Kyuubi back into the world, while the Bijuu would willingly offer aid to him. The young Namikaze was not foolish enough to make the agreement without certain promises from the great Fox however. In exchange for their agreement he had requested the greatest of Tailed-Beasts to swear an oath to never threaten the home of any member of his family; Namikaze, Uzumaki, or any children he had with Itari.

The Fox had been extremely agitated by the terms Naruto had offered it, although the promise of freedom proved too much for it to resist for long. Naruto was pleased to know as well that a Kitsune never breaks a promise once made. While the Kyuubi could trick people it could never directly outright lie to them as well. Using that bit of knowledge he had managed to outmaneuver the Kyuubi and force it into a position where it had no choice but to agree to his demands before he had sealed the deal; the Fox made no attempt to hide its contempt for him and the deal Naruto forced on it, although it did eventually swear to uphold their deal for as long as his line walked the Elemental Nations.

Not that whatever deal they had settled on truly mattered anymore since he had been captured by Uchiha Madara and his army of Shinobi. The Kyuubi was nearly taken away from him completely, and all that was left was a rotting corpse sealed in his body. With the end of his fight against Kisame the Namikaze finally decided to go and see with his own eyes the body itself. The sooner he got it over with the sooner he could try and find anything that he could possibly salvage from the remaining tails worth of chakra the Kyuubi had left behind. At the very least he could create another sealing array to reduce the pain he felt from the disappearing demonic chakra at its source.

Naruto knew where the Fox could usually be found within the prison his mindscape created for the beast. More often than not the Kyuubi could be found lounging along the banks of a large lake in the center of the forest. His Bijuu had preferred the cooler temperatures the lake provided and had created an underground burrow less than half a mile away. Considering the massive size of the Nine-Tailed-Beast however, the distance was more or less a minute's worth of walking between its burrow and the water.

The blonde soon took to the treetops of the forest and began moving at an average pace for a ninja in the direction of the lake. As he approached his destination Naruto could feel the faint traces of decay in the forest itself. The smell of rot and death became more noticeable as the trees themselves began to look more and more diseased the farther into the forest he moved. Obviously whatever state the Kyuubi was in, the Fox clearly had a more significant effect on his mindscape than he had previously cared to assume. He grimly wondered how his mind would look once the empty body of the Bijuu was completely gone. More than likely it would be nothing at all considering that it would likely only fully disappear once he himself was dead.

Naruto viciously chased away such grim and unhealthy thoughts. The blonde had never once cared for his own mortality and he would be forever damned if he started literally inside his mind. Naruto was of the mindset that he would die when he died and nothing would change that. The blonde was also of the belief that the best way to live was as though each day was to be his last. Once he began thinking along that train of thought he realized that there was really little else different from how his life normally was.

Nevertheless he would not change any part of how he lived his life no matter how much shorter it was fast becoming. He was after all Namikaze Naruto; son of the Yondaime Hokage Namikaze Minato and his wife Namikaze Kushina, ex-ANBU Captain, and one of the most infamous Missing-Nin in the bingo book. The Elemental Nation's 'Second Super Pervert', author of the Icha Icha killer novel series known as Kuraku no Kuni. Last of the Namikaze Clan and fiancé to one of the most attractive and powerful women in the known world. A prankster and one of the most zealous, some had even labeled him a fanatic, believers in the Will of Fire.

His life would always be filled with more battles and adventures than most ever saw in a lifetime. Naruto had never lived a simple life in his nearly twenty two years among the living. He was always on the move, always setting a new goal or standard to reach, and never stopped giving his absolute best. Dying had no place on his list of things to worry about because there was another certainty alongside his near certain inevitable death. The fact that he would make sure that when he died it would not be quietly and most certainly end his tale with a bang…And possibly after one last wild night with good company.

Feeling one of his well known grins coming to his face again Naruto doubled his speed. The sooner he reached his target the sooner that he could go about regaining much of his lost strength. The Namikaze knew very well that he could be labeled as an arrogant ass for his opinion on his own skill, but he truly did not give a damn. Considering who his parents were, who his teachers were, what near legendary jutsu he knew and improved upon, as well as what he had survived against, and the perverted teacher he had beat several times, Naruto was certain he deserved to be a little full of himself on occasion. Before being captured by Madara's forces the blonde man guessed himself to be Kage level easily.

Although he knew full well that he wasn't anywhere near his old strength at the moment. With the injuries he had sustained in his fight against Madara himself, as well as the nearly successful attempt at removing the Kyuubi from him, he doubted that he was any more powerful than mid-high Jonin now. He would have to be even more cautious since he could no longer count on the also weakening healing powers gifted to him by containing his Bijuu. Worse, considering that this was an entirely different world, there was a chance that Uchiha Madara himself was around and active as well. Perhaps even more powerful than the one from his world.

Naruto would not allow himself to go down without a fight if he met the Uchiha once again. If he wanted to have a chance at ending his life however, he would need to find a way to regain most of the strength he had lost. The young Namikaze had an idea for how to go about that and that was why he had chosen to enter his mindscape now. If he could find a way to make his idea work then maybe Orochimaru's experimentations on him wouldn't be as great a nightmare to him as they still were.

He felt his arm move unconsciously towards his heart and forced the limb to stop.

Soon he reached the lake and then dropped to the forest floor. Slowly he continued on until coming to a stop at the edge of a new crater. The crater was easily two miles in diameter all around and half a mile at its deepest. The lake was no longer present and he could not even feel the cooler climate that normally pervaded over the immediate area of the lake.

And located at the center of the crater was a large mass of pale orange fur. The large red eyes seemed glazed and lifeless and utterly alien compared to what he was accustomed to with the Kyuubi. Its body laid on its side with its limps spread out like a child's rag doll. There was however one discomforting and blatantly obvious difference between what had once been the most feared of the Bijuu and what was presently wasting away at the bottom of a crater he suspected to have once been its burrow. Where once there had been nine large tails, there now remained five full sized tails and one half sized tail. The smallest seemed to be growing steadily smaller as well.

The blonde slowly knelt down at the edge of the crater and brought his right hand to his lips. Biting down on the thumb he pulled it away from him to look at the blood seeping from the small wound. Normally the blood would have stopped within moments after the wound was healed. However the bleeding continued unaided for far longer than usual before the small bite had healed at last. With a sigh he bit the thumb once again before bringing his hand down to make a circle large enough to contain a person of his height. Biting his thumb after the bleeding began to again slow he then drew a second circle in the center, surrounded by five smaller ones.

Each of the five smaller circles contained a different kanji; Katon, Raiton, Doton, Suiton, and finally Fūton. Stepping back up Naruto made his way out of the larger outside circle, careful not to alter any of the seals he had just placed down. He then slowly slid himself down the side of the crater to the bottom. Without wasting any amount of time the Namikaze pulled out a small piece of sealing paper before adding on a complex transfer seal. Coming to a halt before the mass of orange fur Naruto craned his neck enough for cobalt to meet blood red lifeless eyes. The eyes had tracked his movements sluggishly with only muscle memory compelling the body to do so.

"So then…This is all that's left of the Kyuubi no Kitsune, most powerful of all Tailed-Beasts." Naruto said silently while he continued to gaze upon the body of a once mighty creature. "You know what you damned Fox? Somehow I just know that you're laughing your furry ass off knowing what your corpse is doing to me. You were so worried about me dying you never thought about what would happen to _me_ if _you _just went and left. Now your empty shell is falling apart and its going to kill me by slowly and, you would have enjoyed this, painfully poisoning me."

Slowly he moved his hand up and then towards the massive snout of the Bijuu. Despite knowing full well that its mind was destroyed, Naruto could easily fathom the Kyuubi finding a way from beyond the grave to still manage to bite off his arm if he touched it. The Fox was always mentioned that anything that happened in his mindscape would have no affect on his outside body; ergo it had tried to eat him on several ventures into his mind. It was for that reason that he cautiously reached out to touch the Beast. Much to his great relief, his arm was still attached to himself once it came into contact with the Kyuubi's snout.

Breathing a sigh of relief Naruto leapt onto its head, landing in front of the Fox's forehead where he placed the sealing paper. Stepping away Naruto pulled out two kunai similar to his Hirashin in that they also had seals covering the metal. He connected the two blades with five separate chakra strings and then moving them to make sure they were properly joined. With a slight intake of breath Naruto swiftly turned to throw one into the smaller central circle before plunging the other into the sealing paper he had placed on the Kyuubi.

The seal he had placed on the paper soon began to move and wrap themselves around the length of the kunai. Soon he felt the remaining chakra of the Kyuubi become fully active once again. In quick succession he was assaulted by the full might of the poisonous chakra that was being released into his body. The Namikaze doubled over in pain as he felt his own chakra burning his insides as he struggled to breath in the face of the foul power. Painfully he formed the Ram seal and fought through the pain to begin molding his chakra for one jutsu, while preparing himself to suffer through the pain for as long as it took for him to finish what he came to do. Before he began his jutsu Naruto grasped the kunai nearest him with one hand, while doing the same with the chakra strings.

"Fūinjutsu: Gogyou Seishitsu Henka Butsutekiryuutsuu (Sealing Techniques: The Five Elements Nature Transformation Physical Distribution)!"

What he would attempt to do now was unheard of; something that no one had ever even thought of doing. Then again creating something new that by all means should have been impossible was in his blood; after all he was a Namikaze. With any luck the seals he had laid out before now would drain away much of the remaining Kyuubi chakra, and hopefully either slow down the poisoning or at least dull the constant throbbing pain. If his luck held out, then he would have his way to regaining Kage level strength once again. That or speed up the poisoning even more.

* * *

><p>"Oi! Captain wake up!" The deafening shout was accompanied by a none too gentle kick to the ribs, and then by an even louder cry of pain.<p>

"WHAT THE HELL!" Shouted out Naruto while also nursing his injured side as he slowly pushed himself to his feet. Glaring at the dozens of Kage Bunshin surrounding him Naruto forced himself to calm down. Looking around he soon spotted a clone of himself who looked more pleased than his ninety-nine clone brothers. Pushing through the mass of solid clones he soon stood before the cheery looking copy of himself. Holding his hand out the original waited patiently for the familiar metallic texture and weight of his custom made kunai.

"Um, Captain?" The Bunshin asked curiously while standing in front of its creator. Naruto developed a small number of tick marks while forcing himself to remain calm. Occasionally some of his Bunshin were logically going to be less attentive than the others he usually created. It was for that reason alone that Naruto didn't decide to just destroy the entire lot of them. He'd only had enough time to finish one of the six seals he had planned to leave behind surrounding the Kyuubi's body.

"You lot interrupted me in the middle of something very important. So, you better have found our kunai." Naruto ground out between gritted teeth. The clone blinked several times before its eyes widened in understanding. Reaching into its flak jacket the Bunshin pulled out the three Hirashin kunai that Naruto had used against Kisame. He could see the explosive marks on one of the three; slightly burned metal and barely visible seal markings. Nodding his head Naruto quickly placed two of the three kunai back into the storage seal he had set up within one of his flak jackets pockets. He soon noticed however a change in the position of their shadows. Looking up at the sun he saw that it had moved farther away from where it had been when he first closed his eyes to enter his mindscape. "How long have I been asleep?"

"One hour, thirty five minutes." The clone standing in front of him answered after a moment of thought.

"Well I say we have a vote to decide what to do from here on out for the day." Called out another one of the Kage Bunshin.

"Forget it. I know exactly what_ I'm _going to do. I want all of you to dispel immediately." Naruto said in the same tone he had used while in _his _Akatsuki after several more moments of thought.

"Yes Captain!"

Left alone once again Naruto lifted up the single kunai he had kept in his hands. The sunlight reflected brightly against the slightly smudged steel. He wondered exactly where he would be appearing once he used his fathers' jutsu this time around. When he had taken the liberty to grope the female Kunoichi on Maito Gai's team, Naruto had not done so just out of some perverted desire. He had also used the moment of contact to plant a jutsu-shiki (Technique Formula) seal on one of the girls kunai she held. He only hoped that wherever she was she wasn't in pieces. He had seen what happened to any teleportation if someone messed around with it. Thankfully it had been an enemy Jonin he'd tried to teleport away from one of his allies; once he had sent the Jonin away the body had never been found.

Closing his eyes Naruto willed the jutsu-shiki to bring him to it.

When they had opened again he saw a vaguely familiar figure expanding to a large and grotesque size past several trees. Blonde hair and a slashed Iwa headband, and what looked like a clay bird behind it. _Deidara, and oh boy that's his suicide move._ As the Iwa Nukenin exploded Naruto had gripped the Hirashin kunai and threw it. Forming a short series of hand seals as the kunai sailed through the air Naruto pictured the desert he had just been in before taking a breath.

"Jikūkan Kekkai (Space–Time Barrier)!" The kunai glowed a bright crimson and black before quickly turning into a flash. After the flash the explosion had disappeared. As Naruto blinked away the dots from his eyes he soon became aware of several pairs of eyes on him. One happened to belong to a Shinobi with familiar gravity defying silver spikes of hair, and single Sharingan.

Looking at the face of one of his father's surviving Genin, and older brother figure, brought a smile to Naruto's face. After reappearing next to the kunai he had just thrown, the Namikaze slowly picked it up before sliding his index finger through the ring at the end of it. Turning to face the crown of widened eyes Naruto began to casually swing the three-pronged weapon while he walked up to the crowd of Konoha Shinobi and Kunoichi, as well as the elderly Suna woman and red haired young man, and lastly a blonde boy wearing a frightening orange and black combination.

The faces of Team Gai all stared at him in various types of apprehension. He stopped at Tenten for a moment continuing on. Naruto gave her another look taking in her sweaty and battle weary appearance before giving her a flirtatious smile. As yet another blush appeared over her face the Namikaze pointed at the tree he had appeared next to; more specifically the kunai possessing the same seals as his own custom ones. Taking the advantage of the weapon specialist's distraction Naruto quickly placed a kiss to her left cheek and causing her to 'eep' before looking even more embarrassed. After mouthing the words 'for keeping my seal' to her he took several steps nearer to Kakashi before stopping a second time.

"Been a while since the last time we met, ne Kakashi?" Naruto greeted one of his oldest friends warmly before noticing the young appearance of the pink haired Kunoichi. "The other two Konoha nin not with Gai, are they _your_ Genin students? I have to say I never took you for the teaching sort." Kakashi's eyes continued to stare unashamed at the blonde man standing before him. Naruto could see that behind his face mask the silver haired Jonin was opening and closing his mouth repeatedly.

"Namikaze-sensei?"

"Nope! I'm his son, and the name is really Namikaze Naruto."

Kakashi's reaction was much the same as nearly any man in his shoes would have. He fainted, either from shock or exhaustion.

* * *

><p><em><strong>AN: Sorry it took a while longer to put this one up, but I just kept finding spots where I couldn't help but add a little bit more. Anyway this is probably the last time I'll be posting a chapter for this story until the weekend hits, so enjoy. Oh yeah so I don't forget, the fourth chapter is coming out on the weekend. You know what you have to do when I post that don't you? Ask any question you want and I'll answer it in the fifth chapter so long as answering the question won't give out spoilers. <strong>_

_**The last chapter really got me working on this one even harder than the other two. Fifteen reviews between that last update and this one? That's five more than the first chapter got me! I'm hoping that this becomes a trend when it comes to my updates. Each chapter getting five more reviews than the one prior before I update again sounds great! Lets see if this one doesn't get me twenty reviews before chapter four comes out to find out shall we? **_

_**Back to the fifth chapter real quick though. I have decided that after the QA chapter to go back to some of my other fictions. From now on though, I will follow the same pattern when it comes to updating ASTNJM that I seem to be making as I move along. Five chapters within a two week time frame, and then I switch on to another of my active stories on this site. Considering how popular this seems to be getting I think that it can survive for a fair amount of time between updating cycles, don't you agree?**_

_**Oh yeah, I have my own question to ask you. I find that a lot of the stories that I like in the Naruto Fandom involve Naruto having a harem. I've already made Itari a known romantic pairing for the Namikaze Naruto, although nothing yet for Uzumaki. My question right here is simple enough; **_**should **_**either Naruto's have a harem, just one, or no harems period? Personally I think including a harem might make writing a bit harder for me, but in the end it all goes back to a combination of me wanting to make a story you guys can enjoy, while at the same time keeping it fun. And honestly, a harem for either one may be difficult but there is no way I am going to say I won't have fun trying it. In the end its really up to you. But word of advice; don't go for harem if you think I'm going to have a small lemon. That's a total no, because if you've read my Halo fiction's AN's then you would know that I'm only turning eighteen this coming summer. I won't even imagine writing one until then. **_

_**The only new jutsu I brought into this chapter is the one N Naruto uses in his mindscape. Fūinjutsu: Gogyou Seishitsu Henka Butsutekiryuutsuu (Sealing Techniques: The Five Elements Nature Transformation Physical Distribution): I won't say much about this jutsu other than that its going to involve both N Naruto, and the Kyuubi's chakra working together; though in a totally different way than what is seen in the manga and anime. If you want to know more, you'll have to wait until I decide to reveal why he used that jutsu. When I do, I'll explain everything about it, but I can say some things about it right now.**_

_**This is a major corner stone for N Naruto's role in the story. I don't exactly remember if I've mentioned it, but N Naruto cannot use or gain Sage Mode. Its part of what Orochimaru did to him, and also part of what he isn't. N Naruto was raised differently and experienced different things from U Naruto. Short version is that N Naruto is not the same kind of person U Naruto is; the kind of person the Toads would choose to have sign their contract. Not that he can't be on friendly terms with the Toads, he just won't be accepted as their summoner. But what kind of Naruto, even one from another dimension, won't have some kind of summons at his disposal? Oops, I may have hinted something but hey! That's up for interpretation isn't it? One word though, he did say he only finished 1 seal. **_

_**I'm digging the positive comments this story seems to be churning out. Only my first Halo story has been getting these amounts of reviews; and that is only because the story stayed on the first page for a lot longer than on the Naruto fiction list, and it was during the aftermath of **_**Halo Reach's**_** release that I started it. So far the only semi-negative comments, which aren't even that because they include positives in the rest of the review, are about how I've rated N Naruto's skill, and what he can't really do in the world of U Naruto. **_

_**Speaking of U Naruto…Yeah I don't see a reason not to tell you guys this. He won't make the connection for a while. The way I see it, Uzumaki is not stupid in anyway, just extremely dense and impulsive. At the most, all he'll say is 'Hey! The Yondaime's son and me have the same name!' Oh, and I may have him have some contact with the Uzumaki's Kyuubi. **_


	4. Chapter 4

A Space-Time Ninjutsu Mess

_**Chapter Four: Namikaze Naruto now encounters the members of Team Kakashi, and Team Gai…Including the new world's version of him, Uzumaki Naruto.**_

Disclaimer: I do not in any way shape or form own Naruto Shippuden, or anything unique to it. The show and manga are owned by Kishimoto-Massashi. I think I do own Namikaze Naruto though, or at least the one in this fiction since as of yet Naruto hasn't changed his name in the manga. I do not own Uchiha Itari, both the name and her appearance belong to fellow author BigCC. The Fusion Sword belongs to the team who worked one FFVII: Advent Children and, just to be safe, Square Enix. Also, there may be parts of this story where I combine certain things from the English, and Japanese parts of Naruto.

* * *

><p>The conscious and living members of Team Kakashi and Team Gai were flabbergasted. Just moments ago they had been in danger of being consumed in the suicidal last attack of an Akatsuki member, only to see the explosion vanish with a flash of crimson and black. Then a white short sleeved coat wearing Shinobi entered the clearing and picked up a strange kunai before speaking with Team Gai's female member. After that the man had said a few words to an exhausted Sharingan wielder before proclaiming himself a Namikaze, and becoming the reason for an experienced Jonin fainting on the spot.<p>

The Namikaze continued to stare for several more seconds at the fallen form of the silver hair Jonin. He caught sight of a decent sized branch that had been blown away by the Iwa bomber; the Akatsuki S-Rank ninja Deidara. Steeping forward, he picked up the branch and pivoted on the ball of his left foot to face the man who was lying on his back in a state of unconsciousness. Stopping nearly exactly two yards away from the seemingly unaware figure, enough to escape any reaction, the older of two blondes on the field slowly poked at one of the few non-Uchiha Sharingan wielders alive.

…Again, and again.

"You know what?" The Namikaze said in an entranced fashion. "This is actually somewhat addicting. I can't stop myself from poking him one more time, and then I say 'why not one more,' and then I lose the will to stop. In fact…" A puff of smoke was made on the other side of Kakashi, revealing a second white coat wearing clone with an exact copy of the branch held by the original.

"I get to poke him too?" The clone asked its creator.

"Addicting." Came the fascinated and somewhat detached response.

"_Anywhere_ I want, right?"

"Sure, he's out of it, can't say stop till he wakes up right? Go for it, as long as you're not one of those clones who developed his own sense of self that is."

"As if the world can survive anymore of _you_ Captain, let alone a Bunshin with its own life."

Uzumaki Naruto was a young man who had acquired a number of titles in his short life. Many were well deserved for his actions; while others due to misconceptions he could not fault anyone for having. The young Genin had been called a troublemaker, a prankster, a dead last, Demon, monster, weakling, Orange kid, and sometimes hero. The Uzumaki had seen many things ranging from traitorous fellow Konoha Shinobi all the way to the monsters that were the Akatsuki. The blonde had met great ninja including all three members of the Sannin, Uchiha Itachi, and his friend Gaara the Godaime Kazekage.

Even his Jonin Sensei, Hatake Kakashi also known as Sharingan no Kakashi, was one such Shinobi…The same man who was now being poked, with a _Kami damned _branch of all things, by a man somewhere between his and his Sensei's ages and a Kage Bunshin. Some distant part of the blonde's mind was curious how the Bunshin was formed without any hand seals; the part that _didn't _want to find a stick and join in that is. The younger blonde ninja's thought process was soon stalled by his fellow teammate, Haruno Sakura.

"N-Na-Namikaze? As in, the family of the Yondaime Hokage?" Asked the shocked and curious pink haired Medical-Kunoichi. Like her blonde companion she was partially entranced by the sight of her knocked out Jonin Sensei being poked by a stick. Unlike the ramen-obsessed teen however, she was ready to strike the newcomer responsible for Kakashi's state of being. The only thing that stopped her from closing the distance and doing so, was the name the man had given them; Namikaze…Namikaze _Naruto_. What were the odds of two blue-eyed blondes being in the same place with the _exact _same name?

Then there was the simple matter of the fact that the older blonde claimed to be the son of the Yondaime Hokage; the now sixteen year dead Kage that is. The Kunoichi quickly estimated the man's age to be just below twenty-five, meaning he would have been roughly nine years old at the time of his _father_'_s _death. Then taking into account that the Fourth Fire Shadow had been just twenty-seven himself the apprentice to the Legendary Sucker, Senju Tsunade, decided that the claim was not without merit. Eighteen was an acceptable age, if not incredibly rare, for a Shinobi to have a child.

The pink haired woman was still on guard as she waited for an answer. Despite his appearance being similar to the dead Kage, it did not rule out the possibility of him being one of Orochimaru's agents. As an image of the sadistic Snake Sannin came to the forefront of her mind, Sakura tensed her muscles. The traitorous Missing-Nin was infamous for his experiments and he _had _a jutsu that could bring back the dead at the cost of a living sacrifice. She had read the reports of the failed Suna-Oto Invasion after she had first started out as the reigning Hokage's second apprentice.

During his battle against the late Sandaime, Orochimaru had resurrected and controlled the bodies of the Shodai and Nidaime Hokage's while failing to resurrect the Yondaime. The Invasion occurred just under three years earlier and despite his insanity the Sannin _was _a genius. It was highly possible that he had managed to successfully resurrect the body of one of the most powerful Konoha Shinobi to have lived. If that was the case then not only was he a threat, it was possible the so-called Namikaze had information on Orochimaru himself. Perhaps even the location of his current whereabouts, and by extent…Uchiha Sasuke.

"Huh? Oh please excuse me," The Namikaze said sheepishly before dropping the branch he had been using and turning to face her. "To answer your question, I will ask another. Does Senju Tsunade have a flat chest? If so, then I have to wonder if Jiraiya hasn't killed himself yet."

"Oi! Don't make fun of Tsunade-baachan or Ero-sennin!" Naruto shouted at the older blonde man. This was followed by a low growl from his pink haired teammate as well. The shout drew the attention of the self proclaimed son of a Kage, who blinked as he took a closer look at Naruto. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Trying to see if my eyes are working fine, or if I'm going crazy again. Not that I wouldn't mind a little right now though." The Namikaze answered while crossing his arms across his chest. After shaking his head the strange newcomer began a detailed appraisal of Naruto's appearance. "This is going to cause such a headache, but I just _have _to ask. Are you by any chance named Naruto?"

"Um, yeah? Wait a minute, how do you know who I am anyway?" Without giving an answer the Namikaze almost immediately appeared before the Jinchuriki of the Kyuubi no Kitsune. Ignoring the sudden intake of breath from Naruto, the taller blonde raised his hand and quickly pinched both cheeks. "OW! What the Hell!"

"No way…" The man breathed with a disbelieving expression on his face. "That's not…I mean it makes…But you're…This is going to be a major headache." Without warning the Namikaze slumped over Naruto's body as unconscious as Kakashi. The clone stopped its actions long enough to see its creator faint on the shorter of the two blondes.

"Damn it all, he was right this _is _addicting!" And then the clone dispelled at last with a sour expression adorning its face.

As the smoke from the now late clone began to vanish the rest of the Konoha ninja exchanged odd looks with one another, except for Naruto who was desperately trying to shake off the curious blonde man from his person, "Oi! Somebody help me here, he's heavy! UGH! He drools to!"

Shaking her head at the lack of tact from her teammate, Sakura moved to lay Lady Chiyo down before then going to help pull the suspicious blonde off of Naruto. The pink haired young woman came to a sudden halt at the side of the hyperactive teen. Tilting her head she chuckled slightly, "He really is drooling!"

"Sakura-chan!"

"What? It's funny seeing a grown man drool on somebody Naruto, even you would laugh if it wasn't happening to you!"

"Yeah, but it is happening to me! C'mon, please? Get him off of me, pretty please?"

* * *

><p>Namikaze Naruto felt the slight change in temperature first as he slowly came back to his senses. Being unaware of his situation that moment he went out of his way to conceal his consciousness; the blonde kept his eyes closed and unmoving, his breathing and heart rate were both slowed down to a sedate pace. The analytical part of his mind, the one that he had honed during two and a half years in the ANBU Black Ops, told him that the increased heat he felt meant that he was likely inside of a building situated in a desert environment. Recalling that he had last been in a forest near Kaze no Kuni, the list of his potential locations was rather small. An unknown ninja would be taken to the nearest hidden village by the first patrol to come across them; meaning he had very little doubt that he could be anywhere other than Sunagakure.<p>

Careful to ensure he did not betray his newfound awareness Naruto slowly began piecing together his scattered thoughts. Eventually he began to remember the events that conspired to leave him in Suna itself…as well as _how _he first lost consciousness. A younger, by perhaps less than half a decade, blue-eyed and spiky blonde haired Konoha Shinobi. A shorter _him_. Pushing that though away for the moment he continued to drudge up as many details as possible and make sure he his mind was not being stalled by any head injury.

At the same time he took notice of a sheet of paper pressed to his forehead and the restraints that bound his wrists together atop his chest, and his feet together beneath his knees. The Namikaze also felt the discomfort of his face and chest being pressed into cold, and slightly sandy, floor. The air felt stale and dry as he took in air. His immediate summary was that he had been captured and had his limbs bound in preparation for an interrogation process. The paper he felt against his forehead was almost certainly a sealing paper set to prevent him from molding chakra for an escape. The cold and worn steel of his headband was also missing, likely taken upon discovering his status as a Konoha Missing-Nin. In addition to the slashed hai-ate being missing, the ex-ANBU noticed his father's white coat and flak jacket missing as well.

The mind of a trained ANBU operative revealed that he was in an interrogation cell at the moment. In response to that, the mind of a Hokage's son was viciously berating himself for fainting and being captured.

He heard the sound of a neck cracking slightly followed by a single footstep closer to him. A familiar and tired voice then began speaking, "You can quit pretending to still be out like a light you know."

"Oh, it's just you my dear Kakashi. Damn and here I was hoping that I had been kidnapped by a group of women who intended to sell me to a attractive but lonely high born lady, only to have their wicked way with me before deciding to keep my as their own personal pleasure slave."

"…What?" Even without turning to see the one-eyed Jonin, Naruto knew for a fact that the man had blinked at least twice before answering.

"Kusa no Kuni is a wild place to be if you don't remember to set up alarms before sleeping outside the capital. Man, fun as that whole week was I'd really prefer to avoid a repeat."

"Again, what?"

"Short answer then, I was pulling a Jiraiya in the capital city before I was forced out."

The sound of forced down laughter echoed before the Copy-Nin spoke again, "You were quote, 'Pulling a Jiraiya', and you were captured?"

"In my defense, I allowed myself to be captured."

"Allowed yourself in the sense that you failed to set up basic warning alarms before you decided to fall asleep?"

"Kusa wasn't after me."

A second voice spoke up in place of Kakashi, this one younger and more controlled, "Which leads us to a question. Why is it that three Konoha Jonin, two of whom are veterans of the Third Great Shinobi War, have no knowledge of you at all? Neither your name nor face is any bingo book published by Konohagakure or even Suna for that matter. You claim to be a Namikaze, yet we know the Yondaime Hokage had no legitimate heir at the time of his death sixte-"

"He _died_? When the hell did Namikaze Minato die, and more importantly _how_?"

"You claim to be the son of a fallen leader of Konoha and yet you say you do not know how your own father died? I find that most…Unlikely to be true."

Deciding to at least remove one discomfort, Naruto straightened himself out onto the floor. Rolling off of his front and to his back the blonde lifted up both legs to his chest before throwing them outwards and landing on his own two feet. Turning carefully to face his interrogators the Namikaze at last opened his eyes before leaning back against the wall nearest to him.

"Unlikely yes, but also very much true." The Namikaze retorted before he began stretching what parts of his body he could. His cobalt eyes observed that in addition to Kakashi being present, both the Hyuuga and Maito Gai stood on either side of him. He also noticed that Kakashi seemed to still be slightly exhausted from using up nearly all of his chakra reserves. Locking eyes with silver spiky haired Jonin Naruto shook his head in disapproval, "Kakashi you mind explaining to me how you, a former ANBU _Captain_, decided that instead of resting off chakra exhaustion you're here performing an interrogation? What would dad say about that I wonder?"

Single eye narrowing at the mention of his deceased sensei Kakashi again spoke up, "How about we get back to discussing that shall we? Namikaze-Sensei did not have a son at the time of your likely birth. The War hadn't even ended by that time, so I very much doubt you to be his son."

Naruto returned the glare with an equal intensity as he carefully chose his words, "And yet _he _doesn't know who his father is? I'd have expected his sensei to have told him about his heritage by now."

Hyuuga Neji then responded by moving a step closer to the incapacitated blonde in a placating manner. With his Byakugan inactive at the moment Neji failed to notice his fellow Jonin share a shocked look. Deciding to move away from the direction the interrogation was heading Neji made a diplomatic move, "For now I suggest that we move on to our other questions. I believe you will not be elaborating on anymore of the statements you have just recently made?"

Lowering his head in the manner he had seen his father use when speaking to foreign dignitaries the Namikaze responded in turn, "With respect Hyuuga-san, you are entirely correct."

Nodding in understanding Neji calmly continued as he began to take over the interrogation, "Very well then. This talk of heritage is of little importance and is not the most important topic we need speak of."

"Such as?"

"Perhaps you will be more inclined to tell us how you managed to come into possession of attire similar to the Yondaime Hokage?"

"Easy answer. I stole them from his memorial."

"The Yondaime has no memorial. The closest would be his name etched into the Memorial Stone."

Quirking an eyebrow Naruto looked over at Gai who spoke for the first time. Tilting his head to the left several hair-lengths he turned his attention back to his primary interrogator, "Either there is a memorial and you don't know it, or none of you have ever bothered to notice it."

"Moving on now," Neji started before looking over at Gai who nodded once. Exchanging short bows of the head with the Namikaze, the Hyuuga prodigy stepped back as his squad leader came up.

"When you first came up across my team you were conversing with an Akatsuki member.

"While you chose to fight him in place of my team, which I thank you for, it does not tell why you were with the man. From what both I and my former student could determine you were in some way familiar with him. Will you explain this at all?"

"First off don't thank me Gai. You would have dealt with him on your own without my assistance. That wasn't even the real Hoshigaki Kisame; it was a prisoner whose body was somehow being controlled by him. He even admitted it to me, along with how he only had roughly thirty percent of his real strength."

Gai nodded as his earlier assumption on the nature of the Akatsuki interruption of his team proved correct. Placing his hands on the sides of his hip the bowl-cut Jonin continued, "Very well then. You also mentioned that you knew of his partner?"

"No, I said he _technically_ was my fiancé's partner. I never once said I knew his partner."

"…"

"…"

Neji decided to break the awkwardness himself, "His male partner you mean?"

"Argh! I can't believe the bastard made me find that out from a book!"

Kakashi closed his lone eye for a moment before sighing. Looking back to their captive he decided to add in his own ryou, "My team and our Suna ally came across another member of Akatsuki ourselves. Uchiha Itachi, another Missing-Nin from Konoha. Much like Gai's team, we were aided by our own mysterious arrival. A female ANBU from Konoha in our case…However, our Hokage did not send ANBU reinforcements."

"Let me guess your next question for you Kakashi. You want to know if I have any connection to this unknown ANBU agent?"

"Correct. Actually," Kakashi began before looking curiously at the so-called Namikaze. "Before practically ordering my team and me to continue on, she told us that we might come across a strange blonde Shinobi."

Naruto raised his head sharply as he heard what the silver haired Jonin was saying. His eyes were wide and his mouth was slightly agape. His eyes were full of a mix of disbelief, hope, and even confusion. The Namikaze heir soon glared fiercely in response to the older man's words. He felt his heart beat faster in his chest as he waited to hear what else the elite Jonin had to say.

"She said, and I quote, 'My partner is waiting for the Super Pervert's next book.' Does that mean anything to you?"

The blonde haired Namikaze's lips began moving a moment after the words had left Kakashi's mouth. His facial features clearly revealing his shock as he slowly and silently repeated the words back to himself. Moments later an eerily familiar grin slowly stretched across his face. Naruto began to chuckle, "They're here, Kami I can't believe it!" His chuckle soon turned into full blown uncontrollable laughter.

The three Jonin sweat-dropped as their captive fell to the ground, his laughter echoing through the room. Kakashi and Gai exchanged looks of surprise, while Neji looked on in annoyance as the man continued to laugh.

Regaining control of his actions, Naruto slowly found his way back to his feet. Traces of his near mad laughter showing themselves as the Namikaze's body continued to silently shake. Taking several deep breaths to calm himself down before lifting his head back up to lock gazes with the three Konoha ninja. His smile still plastered to his face Naruto opened his mouth once again, "That is the best thing I've heard in a good while."

"Why exactly is that?" Asked Neji while narrowing his eyes at the blonde.

"Because Hyuuga-san, it means that I wasn't the only one who wound up here. Itari and my favorite blue guy made it as well."

* * *

><p>A campfire burned at the center of a makeshift camp. A boiling pot was held inches above the flames as the stew inside it was cooked. A pair of tea cups was to the left of the fire, and large figure sat to the right. The figure appeared extremely tall even as he sat with his knees folded beneath him. The faint light coming from the fire flickered across his entire body.<p>

He wore a grey flak jacket with somewhat elongated shoulder padding. Beneath the jacket was a dark blue sleeveless shirt, a pair of matching Shinobi pants, and matching blue waist guard, striped arm and leg-warmers. Wrapped around his left wrist was a silvery metal gauntlet which had a black fingerless glove attached to it covering his hand. Wrapped around his head was a modified hai-ate that expanded around his head to cover his ears. The forehead protector had the symbol of Kirigakure etched into the steel, identifying the village which the Shinobi hailed from.

A large and bandaged sword was carefully placed against the side of tree opposite to the ninja. Just in front of him was a medical field kit his partner had wisely chosen to bring with her. The man's dark blue skin was a contrast to the white medical gauze he was currently wrapping around his right forearm. A pair of predatory eyes narrowed in annoyance as he recalled just where he was. Exhaling a deep breath the blue skinned man's gill-like marking seemed to move of their own accord. Turning his gaze upwards he caught sight of a smaller figure atop the trees surround the camp.

"Damn it all Itari! Your lover boy really knows how to make an S-Rank mess. We don't know where the hell he is, and now we're apparently in another dimension or whatever. I swear to whatever created life that-" His short rant was stopped as a kunai was thrown at his hai-ate. The ring of the weapon struck the center of the steel forcing his head to snap backwards, while the kunai ricocheted off of its target and landed blade down in front of the tea cups.

Dropping to the ground, his smaller companion slowly walked into the light caused by the campfire. The feminine figure's steps contained a fluidity that told of years of training and experience with every movement. She wore the common Hotoke Do armor worn by Shinobi chosen by their Kage to join the feared ANBU forces of their villages. In addition she also sported the spiked ninja sandals common to the elite group of Shinobi and Kunoichi, as well black pants. As she bent down to pick up the kunai she had thrown, her bare forearms revealed that she did not carry any arm guards or gloves. After placing the kunai back into one of the pouches on her back-waist, she also picked up both tea cups. Turning to face her blue skinned partner, who was moving his neck in circular motions to release the now stiff muscles, her white cloak billowed in the air as she walked towards him.

The taller of the pair looked at his partner's weasel porcelain mask as she began to speak, "The first thing you will do when you meet him again Kisame, is pull Sameheda out and attempt to remove both of his legs. Failing that you will then beg to know when the next copy of the perverted filth will be released. And then, when you are informed of the date, you will moan and sulk away to find a river to swim in and release the stress you will no doubt feel."

"I don't beg." Roared Kisame in a mock attempt to defend himself from his partner's light insult. As a member of one of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist, and still active Hunter-Nin, the blue skinned man had a great deal of pride in himself. Even as a lighthearted joke, the jibe at his dignity demanded an equally lighthearted, but no less meaningful, response.

"Would you rather I said grovel? Or perhaps 'get on your knees and bow your head before respectfully asking the master' would have been more to your liking?"

"…Beg is good." Still, Uchiha Itari was an opponent he could never win against in anything save swordsmanship.

Handing her partner one of the two cups of tea, Itari slowly sat next to him. Removing the ANBU animal mask she had chosen to wear the Uchiha woman brought her own tea up. The tallest of the pair did the same and they brought their respective cups together in a quiet toast. After finishing her cup of tea first Itari started to speak once again, "It's been a little over four years now, hasn't it?"

Without even taken a sip of his own tea Kisame turned to answer his partner, "Oh? I guess it has then, time really does move fast."

A pair of onyx colored eyes looked up into the night sky on the border between Kaze no Kuni and Mizu no Kuni. A part of he wondered whether or not either her younger brother or even Naruto himself were doing the same. While she had not managed to learn much from her foray into a small village several miles away Itari found enough differences to know that the world she was in now was not her own. So many things could be different from what she knew…Such as how an Uchiha had seemingly become a Missing-Nin, and not just any Uchiha.

This world's _male_ version of herself, a traitor to the village that claimed her absolute and unwavering loyalty; Uchiha Itachi.

Closing her eyes she took a breath before deciding to say more, "Four years ago, our villages formed an alliance. To show that they could work together both Kiri and Konoha selected several of their best ninja. These ninja were partnered with a ninja from the other village, and we were the only one that was truly effective..."

Nodding his head Kisame had a solemn expression as he continued where she had left off, "And our first mission was to hunt down Namikaze Naruto. Your fiancé who left your village two years earlier, and also the same guy who I met a year after he left and helped teach _proper_ Kenjutsu," He soon started chuckling. "Kami, none of you Konoha ninja should dare claim mastery over the sword."

Itari snorted as her partner finished, "And not one Kiri Shinobi has any good taste in literature. Not even Mei-chan and she is the only one from your village I admire."

"Oi! You don't admire me?"

"No. I respect you as friend, Kisame. My admiration is something few can claim to have, after all not even Naruto has it."

Kisame was about to finally drink the tea he had placed aside before pausing for a moment, "ACHOO!" The random sneeze caused him to throw the cup of tea in the air. The content of the cup landed all over the Hunter-Nin and ANBU pair. Looking at his partner Kisame noted with a tinge of fear that her features had taken an unnervingly blank look. "Itari?"

"Speak," Began the Uchiha woman in an unemotional tone. "And spilling hot tea will be the least of your mistakes this night."

* * *

><p>Elsewhere walking through a dark forest a similar seen played out.<p>

"ACHOO!"

"Kisame?" Asked Uchiha Itachi as his Akatsuki partner began a steady pattern of sneezing. The blue skinned Swordsman was unable to stop himself until nearly a minute after he first started. "Are you beginning to take ill?"

"Nope Itachi. Must be someone thinking about me." Answered the Kiri Missing-Nin.

Raising a single eyebrow the slightest of centimeters the Uchiha stared blandly at the taller man. Turning back in the direction they were walking in he said, "Or perhaps you are getting a cold. I do not believe in that childish concept. Come, we need to check in with our nearest informant."

Nodding his head Kisame soon followed behind his partner. The blue skinned Shinobi soon asked the Sharingan wielding master a question, "Itachi, mind telling me something?"

Without breaking step the Uchiha answered, "What do you want to know Kisame?"

"Are you going to tell me how you fared against this mystery Uchiha woman?" The Uchiha's partner asked curiously.

"It depends on whether or not you do something for me."

"Anything specific?"

"Were you to finally cease mentioning that conversation you had with Kazuma Arashi, I might consider informing you of the confrontation."

"Maybe later then, I still get a laugh every time I think of it."

* * *

><p>"Back up a moment," Kakashi said as he looked disbelievingly at the blonde man. "You mean to say that you are from another world-"<p>

"Another world or dimension actually. I haven't got a clue which it is honestly, though you get the point."

The Jonin continued as if he hadn't been interrupted, "-Where your father, the Yondaime Hokage sealed the Kyuubi into you at the age of seven. In addition to that you were betrothed to the female heir of the Uchiha clan, a clan who supported the Forth's position no less, whom had a younger brother by the name of Uchiha Sasuke."

Gai began his own summarization of what the Namikaze had told them, "Not only that but you were both on the same Genin cell and your Jonin Sensei was Kakashi himself, whom you also saw as an older brother. You also were taught mastery of both your wind and water affinities by Shimura Danzo and an ANBU operative codenamed Yamato respectively."

Neji finished up what the two senior Jonin started, "You mastered both affinities months before your fifteenth birthday as well. Upon reaching that age, you were promoted to ANBU Captain by the Hokage. That same day the Yondaime Hokage was assassinated, according to your own assumptions, Orochimaru of the Sannin. Soon after you were captured by him and became one of his experiments, escaping when he did so as well. You became a Nukenin and became one of the most hunted Shinobi in your world."

Naruto nodded as the Hyuuga soon stopped. He hadn't told them _everything_ yet; he kept the details of Orochimaru-teme's experiments to himself, as well as what he knew about Uchiha Madara, and his present condition regarding the Kyuubi's remaining chakra in his body. Those were things he would reveal only in the presence of the Godaime Hokage herself.

Being told that it was Senju Tsunade of all people who filled the spot of Hokage after the death of the Sandaime had thrown him for a spin. From his experience with the Slug Princess, he would have expected Tsunade to have destroyed the Hokage tower and replace it with a casino after becoming leader of Konohagakure. In his own world it had been Jiraiya who was made the succeeding Hokage after his father's death. It was his becoming the new Hokage that forced the Toad Summoner to abandon his writing of the famed Icha Icha series, and pass it on to Naruto's own hands hours before his capture by Orochimaru.

Gai turned to his eternal-rival and motioned at the door. Kakashi caught the message easily and then began speaking to the Namikaze once more, "Do we have your word that you won't harm any of our teammates, or Suna allies?"

Naruto looked at the spiky silver haired Jonin strangely before responding, "I'm a ninja, we're not supposed to be expected to be entirely honest most of the time. However, given who I am exactly, I give you my word as Namikaze Naruto heir to the Namikaze Clan. My father never broke a promise, and I haven't started yet."

"Really? What about when you abandoned the village and became an S-Rank Missing-Nin?" Kakashi asked in amusement as his eyes curved into a smile.

"I told you already, I wasn't entirely sane at the time. I was somewhere between insane and homicidal as that gone on." The Namikaze retorted hotly.

"Of course, of course. Now I believe it's time to go now, right Gai?"

"Of course Kakashi, my Flames of Youth burn far too brightly for me to allow myself to forget when we are expected to return to Konohagakure!" Gai said before shouting loudly as Genjutsu appeared that showed a fire behind his eyes. Grabbing Neji the Taijutsu master was the first to leave the room, his student in tow. Kakashi soon followed after giving the Namikaze a final eye-smile and then walked out the door.

"Wait a minute!" Cried out the blonde haired Shinobi as he realized that they had left him alone. "HEY! Get back here! You guys have to untie me!"

* * *

><p>Several hours later the blonde Namikaze walked alongside the two older Jonin across the desert. It had taken some work but the rest of the Konoha ninja had accepted him joining them on their return trip easily enough. All except for the other blonde in the group, that is. First it had started with the argument about the Namikaze apparently <em>drooling <em>all over the Uzumaki, and then it morphed into an endless assault of question ranging from his name to his rank and instructors. Names were also an easily solved issue with the Namikaze choosing to go by part of the alias he had introduced himself to Team Gai with; Namikaze Arashi.

"I can't believe you asses left me tied up there for three _hours_!"

Naruto laughed as the older blonde argued with Kakashi and Gai several dozen feet behind him and the others. Sakura sighed as she realized that she was going to have _two_ loud and crazy blonde guys to deal with for the next few days. The two Chunin members of Team Gai were both listening in as Neji recounted to them what the Namikaze had revealed to him and the other two Jonin during their interrogation.

Kakashi sighed tiredly as Gai helped him walk. Looking at the fuming blonde he was surprised by the similarities between 'Arashi' and the attitude of Uzumaki Kushina. He chuckled quietly as recalled a time when the Uzumaki woman had barged into the Hokage's office while Kakashi was being debriefed after a mission. The red haired woman had said something incredibly similar to his sensei before pushing the Jonin out of the room as she began exacting _revenge _on his teacher. Although Minato had never complained once after Kushina had left the tower, even having a glazed look in his eyes while going about the rest of the day.

Kakashi was very glad he did not hear anything that went on behind the locked doors.

"Well Arashi-san, if you want we could tie you up for four hours instead next time?" Asked the Copy-Nin.

"Go to hell Kakashi, go to hell and burn." While he said that, Arashi was staring at his old rusted and dual-slashed Konoha hai-ate. He'd all but physically harmed Kakashi when he saw it thrown away in a pile like common trash. Running his finger along the edges Arashi remembered how he had felt when he regained his sanity, and realized what he had done. Leaving the village and fighting teams of his friends sent to bring him back had cut his soul deeply. Now he was just going to enter it despite his status as a rouge ninja because _technically _he hadn't done anything except wear a slashed hai-ate. Actually, none of the Konoha ninja could actually prove he was even a ninja himself when he thought about it. He wondered if even going back would be worth it, considering what he himself knew he had done in his world.

"Someone seems to be in a bad mood." Tenten commented over her shoulder as she glanced at Arashi. The blonde had taken to wearing a basic Suna Shinobi flak jacket with the shoulder guards above a sleeveless red muscle shirt and black pants. His white short sleeved trench coat and Konoha flak jacket having been sealed away into one of the numerous seals tattooed along his right arm. Strapped diagonally along his back was a red sheathed and black hilted ninjato, while a tanto blade was strapped along the side of his left foot. Oddly he had a strange spiral tattoo on his left shoulder.

The girl flushed as she saw him wink at her when he noticed her looking over the rouge Shinobi. The weapons mistress glared quickly before snapping her head to face forward.

"Keep talking Hatake and I swear to Kami herself, I _will_ burn all the Icha Icha in Konoha." _And then replace it with my own books. If nothing else, this trip is going to give me plenty of time to remember everything I put into volumes one all the way to nine of Kuraku no Kuni. _

"…You wouldn't dare." The famed ninja who had copied over a thousand different jutsu whispered fearfully.

Locking gazes with his one-time brother figure before a thought came to the top of his mind. Smirking evilly Arashi began mouthing words at Kakashi, 'I have my father's technique. All I need is a record of all the book stores that sell them, and the rest is up to your imagination…_Scarecrow-kun_.' 

At the confused look from the Copy-Nin, Arashi gave the man a straight faced look. Slowly moving his left arm over one of the seals on his right arm, the Namikaze pulled out his leather Menpo face mask. Seeing the surprised look from the older man Arashi calmly pulled the mask down over his face, covering his lower facial features. The Namikaze had enjoyed ticking his Jonin brother figure when he first bought the mask, and the joy of seeing the annoyance in that single eye had never disappeared.

Smirking beneath his mask, the Namikaze slowly copied the famous Hatake eye smile with both eyes. After opening them again he couldn't help but laugh out loud at the expression he could see on Kakashi's face.

Perhaps going back to Konoha wouldn't be so bad, at the very least he could always enjoy seeing the look on many of the people's faces as he found ways to annoy them for a second first time.

"You know," Kakashi began in a seemingly conversational tone that set Arashi on edge.

"What?" Asked the blonde Namikaze.

"I just remembered. When we get back to the village Inochi is probably going to have to perform some mental checkups on you."

"Uh-huh. Your point being what exactly?"

"Oh, it's nothing really Arashi-_kun_. Unless you consider the fact that if you're telling the truth, then you will have to become the head of the Namikaze Clan. More than likely you're going to have to suffer through weeks of tedious paperwork upon your clan being revived, and probably marriage proposals and the like. In short, _politics._"

As Arashi processed what he had just heard the Namikaze knew only one way to react.

The last Namikaze, the Second Super Pervert, ex-ANBU Captain, and son a Hokage, dropped to his knees on the desert sand and raised his head towards the sky before releasing a scream full of despair.

* * *

><p><em><strong>AN: Before I begin, let me tell you just what Kuraku no Kuni is. The literal translation is "Land of Pleasure and Pain, Joys and Sorrows". What it is, it is the name of the series of adult novels written by Namikaze Naruto after he is given the rights to Icha Icha from Jiraiya. <strong>_

_**Sorry this is over a week late guys. Damn computer. I have a six year old computer and the thing is getting closer to dying out right everyday now. I had a good two thirds of this chapter already done and the BAM! The freaking thing crashes and won't turn on at all. I had to spend half my time out of school last week fixing this thing up, and when I did **_**everything **_**was gone. Then I had to prepare for my SAT's yesterday with what time I had left and that makes my last week a mess. I notice though, right before I posted this that I failed to meet my personal goal. Instead of getting me five more reviews than what Chapter 2 got Chapter 3, Chapter 3 only gave me 18 reviews in place of my hoped total of 20 by the time I put up this chapter. Oh well, I wonder how many this one will get me? **_

_**There were some positives though. My schools NJROTC Military Ball went great Friday. For anyone who's been a part of ROTC and attended a Military Ball, I was the Sword Detail Commander. Although the Color Guard marched the cake in. Funny thing actually. One of my best friends, Brian Escobar, was elected Junior Class Prince at the ball while the votes for Junior Princess ended in a tie. Luck bastard, he got a hot girl on both arms as he walked under the swords. On the positive, I caked his face before the party ended…Only to be caked myself by my girlfriend for in her words, "Not acting like the Unit Third in Command." Sometimes it sucks dating a chick in ROTC with you, especially if she happens to be from another schools unit. Still, she is a great girl and awsome person to be around. **_

_**Why the hell am I talking about my personal life? Back to the business of my AN. **_

_**Sorry if this chapter seems a little fast paced but that's because I had bit more between Namikaze and Uzumaki meeting that I couldn't remember, and couldn't put back in. I swear I have to buy myself a new computer sooner or later. **_

_**SO. Some major things happen this chapter. One, Namikaze meets Uzumaki. I had this whole idea that the Namikaze **_**knew **_**he wasn't exactly in his own world anymore, but didn't exactly **_**accept **_**it all until he met a younger and shorter version of him. The whole part where Namikaze faints is from Back to The Future II, well partly anyway. I saw the movie again and I decided to put something akin to the two selves meeting each other scenes into this. Although, the younger has no clue who the older is, ergo why Uzumaki didn't faint. The drooling part was just for laughs. **_

_**Second thing, the Jonin start to interrogate him about who he is and where he came from. I intentionally chose to make it as short as I did. This is because the majority will be explained in more detail when they are debriefed by Tsunade. **_

_**Number 3, once again I have not revealed to you what exactly Orochimaru did to the Namikaze. Why did I do this you may ask? Maybe I want to properly build up to it so not to disappoint you all, maybe I want you build up the mystery of what it might be, or I just want to make you all wait cause I can. **_

…_**Nah, its probably one of the first to. **_

_**Four, quite a few have asked about Itari and whether or not I would bring another Kisame into the world of Uzumaki Naruto. Well I knew from the moment I started deciding just who Itari was going to be that she wouldn't be involved in the plot of the story for a while. But then I decided a slight cameo wouldn't hurt, it would just show you all for a fact that she is there. **_

_**Five, the fight between Itari and the Itachi controlled puppet/clone/prisoner whatever you call those guys Teams Kakashi and Gai fought during the middle of the Kazekage Rescue Arc, that is mentioned again and it will be revealed by Kakashi during the mission report. **_

_**Six, Uzumaki Naruto and Namikaze Arashi. For a good chunk of this fic that's who they are, so hopefully no one is going to be confused as to who is who. I think part of this chapter might cause some confusion as to which Naruto is which, and for that I apologize. **_

_**That's it for the major things I guess. This is, the first four chapters are D.O.N.E. at last. That means in two days time I will be posting a fifth chapter that will answer as many questions you might have without spoiling much. You all have two days to ask anything you want about this fic like where its going, how long do I intend to make it, possible pairings, hints I have spread through the entire story so far, etc. But that's it, two days. After that I'm shifting over to my other fiction for a while. I've been ignoring them for too long now. **_

_**On the note of the second Kisame. Just imagine canon Kisame with darker blue skin, the flak jacket Zabuza wears in the flashback where he meets Haku, an un slashed forehead protector, a bandage wrapped right arm, and this is the big one; a hidden blade from Assassins Creed. Er, sort of that is. Think the basic shape of the gauntlet, only with a short saw-like sword instead of a hidden blade launching out. **_

_**I wanted something to distinguish this Kisame from the one in Akatsuki, and that was what they were. Itari's partner is a loyal Kirigakure Hunter-Nin who became one of the Seven Swordsmen. I decided that a Hunter-Nin had to have some method of proving the death of a Misssing-Nin, so then I started wondering how I could use that. The answer was very simple, and so very Kisame like IMO. In the Namikaze's world, Kiri Hunter-Nin are known by carrying a specialized short blade that would launch from a gauntlet carried on their non-dominant hand. The blade would be next to useless in combat, and its true purpose would be to cleanly cut the heads of dead Missing-Nin. Although this is Kisame, a very brutal guy, he **_**has **_**to have one that is just as brutal as him. Ergo, instead of a plain sword its more like a saw. **_

_**Actually try more like what Samehada is compared to a normal sword. I only chose to describe it as a saw because I couldn't come up with a proper way to describe it. Ideas? Cause I don't want to call it the Saw Sword all the time…Unless you guys like it? Idk. **_

_**Arashi is definitely going to have to be head of the newly reborn Namikaze Clan, so he's moving into Minato's old place. He did have a family house in Konoha right? Not an estate like what the Hyuga or Uchiha had? Because right now I'm not entirely sure what I'm going to do with where he lives. My question to you about this; what is the status of Clan Heads in regards to Shinobi forces? Do they have their own position, are they just very senior Jonin, or something else? Because I know for a fact Tsume had a Konoha Flak Jacket and she's the Inuzuka Clan Head. **_

_**So here we come to a close. How did this chapter stack up to the first three? I'm not entirely pleased with this one, although I think it serves its purpose well enough. What did you guys think about how I wrote Itari in her short appearance? Were the Jonin all in character during the interrogation? I chose Neji to head the interrogation for the most part because I kind of have this idea that he would be the most diplomatic of the three coming from such a formal clan. **_

_**Biggest concern is that I failed to do a well enough job describing how three certain extra-dimensional ninja look. And on that note, I'll post Number Five in two days. **_

_**Oh! I saw Fast Five last Sunday, and it is awesome. I recommend you go see it if you can, definitely the best of the franchise. **_

_**Wow, this is the longest chapter I have ever written, including the AN I mean. 17 pages, wow. **_


	5. Chapter 5

A Space-Time Ninjutsu Mess

_**Chapter Five: Namikaze "Arashi" travels with Konohagakure Teams Gai and Kakashi back to the Leaf Village and their debriefing by Tsunade. Halfway through they make camp, and Arashi finally has a long talk with Uzumaki Naruto that quickly deteriorates into a test of his younger self. **_

* * *

><p>Disclaimer: I do not in any way shape or form own Naruto Shippuden, or anything unique to it. The show and manga are owned by Kishimoto-Massashi. I think I do own Namikaze Naruto though, or at least the one in this fiction since as of yet Naruto hasn't changed his name in the manga. I do not own Uchiha Itari, both the name and her appearance belong to fellow author BigCC. The Fusion Sword belongs to the team who worked one FFVII: Advent Children and, just to be safe, Square Enix. Also, there may be parts of this story where I combine certain things from the English, and Japanese parts of Naruto.<p>

"Wait just a second right there," Arashi said as he interrupted a story Naruto had been telling Sakura of his training with Jiraiya. He still wore the leather armored mask that reminded the two conscious members of Team Kakashi of the cloth one their teacher was never seen without. The Genin and Chuunin each had different takes after they had first seen the strange man with it on. Naruto was slightly annoyed that he never thought of buying a mask like Kakashi's so that he could annoy the eternally late Jonin, while Sakura on the other hand had threatened the Namikaze with, and quote, "A Tsunade level reaction to Jiraiya peeping in on her taking a bath," if he ever started reading Icha Icha in public, causing all the men to pale in fear for several heartbeats…Until the Namikaze had commented on how it strangely turned him on, and how he would never sully his hands with the "outdated literature" that was Icha Icha. "He pushed you off the side of a cliff, not knowing if you would survive I must add, and all because he wanted you to call up some of the Kyuubi's Tailed-Beast chakra?"

"Well yeah, I guess. Why, were you thinking that's a stupid thing for him to have pulled on a kid?" Naruto asked the child of his hero, the Yondaime Hokage.

Arashi shook his head before smirking back at the Uzumaki, "Stupid? Are _you _sure you came out of that all right kid? Because that is one-hundred-percent brilliant and exactly what I would have done to a student of mine!"

"WHAT!"

"Deaf too? Ah forget it Naruto, not like _I _even had a student to teach. But you better not say that from an outside point of view, the whole thing is really something funny, ne?"

The younger of the group's two blondes looked back over his shoulder with his eyes scrunched together in on of his usual expressions. A huge foxy grin came to replace the weird look he had before the blonde suddenly turned in mid air, landing on a tree branch and facing the Namikaze trailing several meters behind him. Crossing his arms across his chest Naruto opened his electric-blue eyes as his feet pushed off from the tree branch. Now moving backwards the knuckled headed Genin was not surprised to see the varied reactions from the members of their two team group.

His eyes turned to his right and caught Sakura's amused expression as the pink haired Kunoichi brought a hand up to stifle a giggle. Beaming that he had made his teammate and crush have a positive reaction to his antics Naruto turned to look at his Jonin Sensei; and nearly lost his footing on another branch after seeing the silver haired Jonin reading one of Jiraiya's novels. Both Lee and Gai were overjoyed at seeing such a "youthful" action in what they saw as Naruto training his awareness of his surroundings. The younger of two even twisting to perform the same action as his blonde friend with his Sensei crying anime tears at being unable to do the same with Kakashi on his back. TenTen and Neji both had equal looks of mild displeasure as each knew that once they had returned to the Village it would only be a matter of time before both Gai and Lee had their team all traveling through the Forest of Death backwards.

Naruto took all of this with the same grin still plastered to his face. It only disappeared once he locked eyes with a pair of now ice cold cobalt-blue eyes glaring at him. Surprised at the shift in the elder blonde's expression Naruto could not help but squirm slightly under the piercing glare. It felt like the glares that Sasuke used to give him at the start of Team 7's ninja career and Naruto decided he wanted to know why, "Hey! Why are you giving me that look?'

The Namikaze responded by pointing a finger at Naruto before speaking, "Because that is pathetic and insulting."

"What was that!"

"You heard me loud and clear _Fishcake_," Arashi said in a disgruntled voice. "It's pathetic what you're doing. What if we walk into an ambush because you happen to be goofing off like that? Or worse, what if you were fall off and knock your head on one of these branches and putting yourself out?"

"Oi! I admit I may have done that as a kid, but I'm a lot better than I was back then. I won't fall into a trap, so shove it!"

The two blondes glared fiercely at one another for several moments in a contest, both trying to force the other to break contact first. In the end the contest ended before a winner could be determined as Naruto misplaced a landing and began flailing his arms to prevent himself from falling. He quickly regained balance as the rest of the group quickly passed him by and was about to take off again when he felt a firm grip on his shoulder.

Looking at the many seals tattooed to the bare forearm, some made of ink and others of what appeared to be blood, Naruto raised his face to look up into that of the Namikaze. While Konoha's most infamous prankster would never be heard saying it, Naruto was in awe of the fact that he was in the presence of the Yondaime Hokage's son. The day after Teams Gai and Kakashi returned to Sunagakure with its Kazekage the blonde quickly asked Sakura about what Arashi had told them when they first encountered him.

After his question had resulted in the back of his receiving a lighthearted bump from his pink haired teammate, he had never been so glad that she didn't have great enough chakra reserves to stay as active as long as he could, the medic decided to answer him. Naruto admitted to himself in private that he had barely paid much attention to what had been said before the Namikaze had spoken to him and then promptly slumped over his smaller frame. He was surprised to discover just who had been drooling all over his back on the march back to Suna was; that he was the son of the very same man Naruto idolized, and who died to seal the Kyuubi within him. At first he had been ecstatic when Sakura had told him that and ranted about seeing if the Namikaze knew any other jutsu his father invented that Jiraiya didn't know about considering that the man had to have been old enough to learn something from the hero. After he had turned to his friend, Gaarra the Gondaime Kazekage, after the red haired had said something Naruto remembered something ero-sennin had told him.

The self proclaimed "Super Pervert" had told his latest pupil how someone traditionally became a jinchuriki. Naruto was somewhat subdued as he learned that most containers of the various Tailed-Beasts were usually connected to the reigning village leader in someway or another, with the most common connection being one of blood. As an example the Toad Sannin brought up Gaara to better impart the information to his rarely attentive student. Naruto had been entirely unaware of the fact that the boy he had met during the Chuunin Exams was in fact the son of the Yondaime Kazekage himself.

As he came back to the present and again looked over the red and black beneath a Suna Flak Jacket, Naruto felt a spike of anger rise inside of him. Instinctively he forced the emotion down along with the faint trace of the foul chakra until he was certain that the Fox inside of him couldn't attempt a second try at taking over. After doing that he silently simmered, while glaring directly into a slightly shocked Namikaze whose mouth was slightly agape, and utterly unaware that Arashi had detected what had just happened.

Inside the safety of his mind Naruto screamed as his glare grew slightly hateful. The young Uzumaki was angry at the older blonde standing within arm length of him and although he felt that he was being unfair it was impossible to let the anger simply go. Naruto was resentful of Arashi and what he knew for an undeniable fact made them different. The Yondaime had chosen to seal the Kyuubi into a newborn baby in spite of already having a son alive by that time.

"Is there something on your mind Uzumaki?" Arashi asked seriously while his eyes held a hint of understanding behind the cobalt-blue of them. The older man brought up a hand to cup his chin for a moment while the fingers glanced off the side of a cheek.

The teen blinked before the anger was replaced, but as Arashi looked into the electric-blue he could see that within the maelstrom of hidden emotions that the eyes allowed a glimpse of it still lived, with a particular grin that both a Chuunin instructor and dead Kage had unfortunately been quite familiar with. As he formed the Ram hand seal Naruto gathered and molded his chakra for something he had not used for a fair amount of time. _I can't do much about why the Yondaime picked me over him, but I can do this_. Around the immediate area of the pair bursts of smoke came into existence and revealed three dozen Kage Bunshins of Naruto; all making the Ram seal themselves.

With a smirk that promised more payback in addition to what he was about to do Naruto and his clones all called out, "Hāremu no Jutsu (Ninja Harem)!" As the words were spoken Arashi suddenly lost his serious look and took on a near perfect copy of one of Jiraiya's most perverted grins as the many Naruto's were all covered by smoke. A trickle of blood began landing on the tree branch as the smoke dissipated and over three dozen blonde pigtailed women clung to his body…although to his disappointment smoke hid the more interesting areas.

The blonde man mentally began taking notes about how he could work Naruto's technique into his next novel. The jutsu offered up a multitude of possibilities and was easily as pure literature gold as Gai was obsessed with the "Flames of Youth", or Kakashi with Icha Icha. Turning to look in the direction of the original Naruto-henged woman Arashi had a shine in his eyes, "Naruto this is brilliant! I must learn the inner-workings of this jutsu at once!"

The 'woman' blinked once before 'her' jaw fell in shock.

"The sheer potential that it has for research purpose," Arashi continued on as more blood dripped down his face. Suddenly his eyes widened and the trickle became even larger as an idea came to mind, "…SWEET KAMI! I could create an army of Tsunade's with this! HA! Jiraiya I have once again had a brilliant idea before you!"

* * *

><p>Meanwhile in the Hokage Tower, Senju Tsunade continued to stare with a rising urge to cry at the horror of what lay before her. Taking advantage of the rarity of actually <em>finishing <em>a monstrous stack of paperwork before her former apprentice could bring her a fresh pile the Slug Princess had decided to indulge in one of her greatest weaknesses; top quality sake. The blonde haired medical legend had just pulled out a bottle of said sake when disaster struck: she sneezed before a single drop of sake had been poured into her saucer. The result had been the nightmare that the mere sight ensured that she was on the verge of going into an unstoppable rage: Tsunade had thrown the bottle of sake out of one of the windows in her office, destroying the entire pane of glass as well as losing one of life's greatest wonders.

At the same time in behind a fence guarding a hot spring situated in a well off Kusa no Kuni city, a sealing expert felt like he had lost out on something of epic proportions. The feeling was quickly replaced by fear as Jiraiya realized that the voices on the other side of the fence had gone eerily quiet and a substantial killing intent was quickly growing. Putting on his most disarming face Jiraiya attempted to get out of danger, "Well hello all you fine Kusa ladies. I hear your country is gobbling up my latest novel, so might I offer up copies of said novel for each and every one of you in exchange for letting me go?"

The first blow landed when he pulled out a copy of his most recent work Icha Icha Tactics; apparently Icha Icha was only popular among the countries male population.

* * *

><p>Naruto continued to stare in horror as the older blonde continued to rant about how brilliant 'his' original jutsu was. 'He' knew that 'his' mouth was still hanging open in a mix of horror and disappointment at the sight of the utter ineffectiveness the technique had in regards to the Namikaze. So far <em>no<em> man had ever been able to resist the jutsu and it was capable of bringing down a Hokage multiple times over.

Arashi was entirely uncaring as to what thoughts were running through the mind of his other self regarding the jutsu he was currently enjoying. A small part of his mind was ranting about how stupid he had been for not creating a similar jutsu for his own use. While he was highly intelligent and capable Shinobi, the slight ego he allowed boosted much more, Arashi knew he couldn't copy a jutsu like that without help. After all; he was only _engaged _to an Uchiha prodigy, he had no chance of gaining something like the Sharingan. Baring the direction his train of though was moving towards, Arashi knew he would have to ask for help.

Ask for help. From his _younger_,_ orange_-wearing, and unthinking self.

…_Now that I think about it, it's not really_ something _I really _need _to know about. I don't have to ask for help from…well _myself _of all people. Kami, that is still confusing as hell to wrap my mind around. Besides, it's not like knowing how to henge my own Kage Bunshin into hot girls is something that will really help out against someone as determined as Madara. I mean, it's not like these are solid-WAIT A MINUTE! _

Arashi felt the blood in his veins chill to ice cold temperatures, he knew that his skin had turned a ghostly pale, and according to Itari his right eye brow should be twitching somewhat. He knew that they were the clear signs of him going into a mild panic attack. Already his heart was pounding from inside his chest just as Arashi had realized something that threatened to make him lose what little food he had consumed in Suna just under a day ago. Still, the Namikaze could still ask his Uzumaki double and pray that he was wrong about his assumptions.

"Naruto," Arashi ground out slowly and with a trace of fear lining the edge of his voice. "These girls…They're not, well solid are they?"

'Naruto' blinked twice with 'his' cute and innocent baby-blue eyes. Where was Arashi getting at with that question? Regardless, 'he' decided to answer his fellow blonde's question, "Well yeah. For some reason, all my henges are the real deal. Nothing illusionary about them all, why?"

Arashi stood there in horror for several moments as what he had just heard slowly sank its way in. He was surrounded by fully transformed copies of Uzumaki Naruto. Meaning they were fully transformed copies of a younger version of him. Which meant that he was being turned on and thinking like the Super Pervert that he was…he was acting perverted towards _himself _of all people. Immediately Arashi felt the blood trickling from his nostrils come to a complete and sudden halt at the same instance that he felt a sense of nausea threaten to overwhelm him.

"Oh. Oh, sweet Kami." Arashi suddenly broke free of the grasp of the three dozen pigtailed, and once deliciously sexy, blonde 'girls' and his face took on a green look. Clutching at his stomach with one hand, and covering his mouth with the other, Arashi fell to his knees on the branch.

'Naruto' seeing the sudden change in the older blonde man quickly dispelled both the henge and his Kage Bunshin. In a second the younger teen was at the Namikaze's side and on his knees as well, a look of bewilderment and worry etched onto his face. Running a hand furiously through his blonde spikes Naruto could only say one thing, "You're supposed to have been blown away by a nosebleed! Not get sick! Oh man, my jutsu isn't supposed to do this!"

At the word 'jutsu' Arashi knew he could not hold back anymore. The cries of one disgusted and surprised Genin mixed with the heaving sounds of one ex-ANBU Captain and echoed throughout the forest.

* * *

><p>Far away from the blonde duo the Icha-Icha addicted Jonin that was Hatake Kakashi looked up from the page in his latest book as his ears picked up a far off and strange sound. Blinking his one visible eye twice, the silver haired leader of Team Kakashi craned his neck so that he was looking in the direction where they had left Naruto and Arashi behind.<p>

"Something caught your attention Kakashi?" Questioned Maito Gai as he looked up at the man he was carrying on his back.

Shaking his head once, the Hatake turned back to continue from where he had left off, an eye-smile already in place, "No. No, Gai, nothing at all." Inside the confines of his mind, Kakashi was cackling evilly as an image of the pair of blondes being chased by a rather large and fearsome predator popped into his mind.

Nobody who threatened to burn his _precious _would ever get off lightly. Kakashi knew Kami herself wouldn't let karma fail to punish Arasi for what threatened the cosmic balance of that was right in the world. The sole surviving student of Namikaze Minato giggled; partly from finishing an especially brilliant page and partly from imagining the embarrassment or pain being suffered by the supposed-Namikaze Clan heir.

Several hours later Gai, whom was in charge being the most senior and capable Shinobi present, had decided to set up camp for the night. He had been conversing with his fellow Jonin and both men came to an agreement to rest for the night before continuing on in the morning. The respite from the pace being set by the quirky Taijutsu Master was well received by Sakura and, to a lesser extent, Neji and TenTen. All Konoha ninja present in the camp soon went about a multitude of basic tasks to set up a sufficiently defendable perimeter for their temporary stop.

Sakura herself was sitting besides her perpetually late Team Leader; the latter of which was currently resting in the center of the inside of a dead and slightly hollowed out tree trunk. Of all the Shinobi it was her first sensei who was in the worst shape, although the cause was primarily due to chakra exhaustion from overusing his implanted Sharingan eye. The eighteen year old Kunoich and field medic had forcibly made the Hatake _request_ a quick in-field examination of his current physical state. The tried and true methods of dealing with depleted chakra reserves were either long periods of rest, or the swallowing of a Soldier-Pill; the sole female of Team Kakashi however refused to go another day without personally making sure her sensei only required one of the two, and did not have an undetected injury or condition that the Suna Medics may have accidentally missed.

After having ordered her patient to remove his flak jacket, she caught sight of a flash of what looked like a necklace for just a second beneath his black shirt, Sakura then told him that he was not allowed to read anything while she worked on him. After doing basic checks that any ninja could do Sakura stood up from her place besides her sensei and walked around behind him. Folding her legs beneath her, the pink haired Kunoichi's hands began to glow with a faint green chakra. Placing the glowing hands against her sensei's back Sakura prepared herself to perform a basic diagnosis jutsu; the very first Tsunade-sama had taught her in fact.

Closing her aqua-green eyes for a moment Sakura took in a short breath of air before she began to ply her recently learned skills as a medical-nin. The immediate actions that would detect any ailments in the human body required the Kunoichi to enter a shallow self induced trance before she could truly use any of the jutsu she had learned. Medical-Ninjutsu was perhaps one of hardest of all jutsu branches to gain true mastery over; in fact only the sealing arts were arguably closer to impossible to master. Medical-Ninjutsu required perfect chakra control and the learned ability of having absolute knowledge over all aspects of the human anatomy, as well as total control of the medic's own mind in conjunction with the body at all times. It was for this reason why very few medical-Nins had anything above average chakra capacity and reserves. The actual use of medical-ninjutsu however, was not as set in stone as the requirements were. Each and every medic regardless of nation or village had their own unique method of using their life saving jutsu.

Sakura could not count the dozens of lectures that Tsunade had given her that involved pounding, occasionally there had been times when it nearly became literal, the statement into her very being. The Hokage's first apprentice, the Jonin Shizune, had comforted the girl in the early beginnings of her training by telling Sakura that all medical-ninja had gone through the same thing courtesy of their teachers…Then Tsunade had ordered Shizune to try her best at a nearly impossible task; inspecting all hot springs in the village to make them pervert-proof. The Slug Sannin then warned Sakura not to speak of her with anything less than what she deserved as her teacher and Hokage.

Tsunade had told her second apprentice that her own style mainly revolved around creating a mental image of a great tree in her mind. The tree was her patient and she would will her chakra to enter the tree and inspect it from the inside out. Shizune linked her own method with a chemical lab; using her chakra to find the right balances of everything just like when making her poisons. The Kunoichi's own best friend, Yamanaka Ino once mentioned hers as envisioning a massive field of innumerable flowers, and then finding any dead or sick plants for removal or healing. Every single medical-ninja that Sakura had found in Konoha all had their own unique methods that worked for them only; she was no exception to the rule.

Haruno Sakura, to be more precise the one she had been after graduating the Academy, had prided herself greatly on her accumulated book knowledge. The young girl she had been at that point in her life really only had them as her sole advantages over other fresh Genin until Tsunade-sama had returned to the village. Despite improving her abilities as a _true_ Kunoichi by spades in the three years since then, and she considered herself blessed to have been that lucky, Sakura had never forgone that love of books. Honestly it had never once surprised her that her mental image was that of a medical journal containing all the medical information she had garnered since becoming the second apprentice to the Slug Sannin. While she healed a patient's injured body, the book Sakura created would be missing lines or paragraphs, or even whole pages. Sakura would fill those missing blanks with the knowledge she had memorized and then begin the process of willing her chakra to heal and mend any injuries.

The rosette haired woman continued to take in breaths of air in a constant pattern as she began turning the pages in her mental book. A detached portion of her mind thought it fitting, in a sad and mildly funny way, that the book had a familiar orange cover. Thankfully the only thing inside the book were volumes of medical knowledge accumulated over the majority of her ninja career instead of the porn her perverted sensei so coveted that was written by her _other _teammate's own, even more so than the famed Copy-Nin, perverted sensei. Was it some kind of unspoken law that required several famed Konoha Shinobi to be either openly or secretly perverts? Sakura soon turned her mind back towards the pages of information she looking for anything that was out of place that would show whether or not Kakashi was hiding something that _he, _the man may have been brilliant but he was only qualified for basic first aid at best when it came to things medical, thought was nothing.

She would be damned if her team lost yet another member because of a stupid decision on her watch. Sasuke's desire for vengeance she could understand to a certain degree, and maybe the girl she had been may have thought he had every right to follow his own way, but the years since his desertion had showed her how much of a blunder the Uchiha boy had made. Both of the villages loyal Sannin were wary of taking direct action against Uchiha Itachi and she doubted Orochimaru could have given Sasuke the strength he would need to kill his elder brother. When one considered the information Jiraiya had found about the Snake Sannin's involvement with the Akatsuki themselves it only added to how terrible a mistake her crush had long since made. According to the author of the damned staple book of perverts everywhere, it seemed that Orochimaru had attempted to murder Sasuke's brother the moment the traitor joined the organization with the red clouds…And lost to the then thirteen year old quite handily at that. Sakura was certain that had her wayward teammate been aware of that defeat he would have never joined up with someone who his brother had nearly killed.

_Damn it,_ the medic thought sourly as her concentration lapsed and she lost her place in the book. _Its been years since he left us, and in that time we haven't heard even the slightest rumors about him or where Orochimaru is keeping him. Still though Naruto is back home now, and with him in the village it's only a matter of time before we actually start _doing _something to help find Sasuke. _Sakura opened and then closed her eyes for the second time before resuming the jutsu._ Yes. Naruto, Kakashi-sensei, and myself. Team Seven is definitely going to be back together soon, I just know it. So why then? Why is, despite knowing all of this, do I lose my focus whenever I think of Sasuke? Why is it that the pain I feel hasn't disappeared since the day Kakashi-sensei showed up carrying Naruto and _only_ Naruto on his back? _

Mercifully the collected and calming words of her sensei reached her ears, "Sakura?"

Blinking several times as her strained trance finally reached its end and she returned to reality it took the rosette several moments before she could form a cognitive response, simple as it was however, "Yes Kakashi-sensei?"

Turning his head ninety-degrees to his right so that his sole visible eye was locked with her pair of aqua-green eyes. The lone eye blinked once before curving into his trademarked eye-smile, she and Naruto were certain the Hatake really would patent the look if ever allowed, that conveyed the nearly unnoticeable trace of awkwardness that filled the inside of the tree, "While I'm certain many men would have absolutely no problem with having a young woman's hands on his body, I think your reason for having them on my back is surely done by now, right? I mean any longer and it would be considerate inappropriate behavior, after all you were one of my cute little Genin once a upon a time."

Her reaction to the words was quite obvious and perfectly understandable. Immediately the Kunoichi pulled her hands away from the Jonin's back as though they had been grazed by a mid-level Katon jutsu. Indeed Sakura felt significantly hotter as she began to stutter out some kind of retort to her leader's words, her skin taking on a shade nearly the same as her own hair. The shade increased as her eyes soon moved on to stare for a moment at the blue cloth that hid his face from the world and imagined the handsome face she perceived to be beneath it. It was that thought that nearly caused her to say something embarrassing, and also forced her to duck her head down and grip her short pants tightly in her fists. Kami, she'd thought that she had outgrown that desire to see her teacher's face when she was taken off of his team to become Tsunade's apprentice, damn it!

It seemed that the seemingly unobservant Kakashi had taken notice of his one-time student's state of being as he chuckled for a bit at how easily she was embarrassed when one knew just which buttons needed to be pressed. If there was one thing Kakashi missed about being a teacher it was those moments when he expertly, although according to one Special Jonin 'near diabolically', found and manipulated his teams unique personalities for his own amusement. It honestly was a pity that he'd so clearly proven to himself his inability to be a real teacher otherwise he would have taken another Genin team just to obtain the same reaction Sakura was having. Soon the chuckling died down and the Kunoichi's skin had lightened several shades nearer her own natural skin tone and he spoke again, "So, I believe we are done her, yes?"

"Y-yes Kakashi-sensei. You were right, you're perfectly fine aside from needing plenty of rest due to your rather severe case of chakra exhaustion."

The Silver hair Jonin nodded once before slowly rising to his own two feet. Taking note of the slight, but still plainly noticeable, wobble to his movements Sakura quickly rose up to help her sensei. Looking down at the mass of pink the Hatake couldn't help but roll his last biological eye, "You don't have to do this Sakura. I can walk on my own." The look the group medic gave him reminded him of an angry Tsunade. Damn, there was no safe way to argue against that look.

The rosette smiled innocently as her sensei capitulated to her whims, and Kakashi knew there was nothing innocent behind it at all. He had been around enough medics to know just what that look meant. It had been the same look Rin had when she first treated Minato-Sensei after he received a serious wound before he had managed to perfect either of his most famous jutsu. A look that was meant to hide the thoughts currently running through his former pupil's head. The thought that _she _had power over a weakened figure of authority, her Team Leader. With luck Sakura would turn out more like his own Medic of a teammate and be less controlling than certain Medical-Nin who let it start to mess with their minds.

Moments later Kakashi was able to reach his flak jacket and weapons pouches near the entrance of the long dead tree. The Jonin did require some assistance from Team Kakashi's sole female however. Kakashi could do nothing to stop the grin from appearing beneath his cloth face mask as he noticed how quickly Sakura could switch from embarrassed to controlling and then back to embarrassment. Deciding that he had embarrassed the Kunoichi enough for the moment Kakashi opened his mouth, "Mm. Hey Sakura, I don't suppose you could go and check with Gai? See if Blonde Number One and Blonde Number Two are back yet?"

Mentally thanking her sensei for the obvious exit he had given her to stop the awkwardness that helping him had caused, Sakura quickly nodded. Turning to leave the tree, Sakura took off to find the most eccentric ninja she had ever met in her life. Before leaving however she looked over her shoulder at her sensei, she soon sweat dropped at the sight. Kakashi had once again taken a seat and pulled out the new copy of his favorite novel series that Naruto had given him. _That was what? Fifty seconds since I finished with him? Kami, what is so damned interesting about that little book? From what Naruto told me its just page of smut after smut with just enough plot to qualify as a novel anyway. _Mentally sighing, Sakura faintly smiled at the sensei who had changed the least out of the old Team Seven before turning around to leave at last.

Silently counting, Kakashi put his precious reading material down after reaching ten. The Hatake continued to observe the spot the medic had just recently been standing on. Cocking his head to the right slightly Kakashi soon developed an eye-smile. _Hm. I give her…A nine out of ten for the ass. _Immediately his eye opened in shock at the thought he had just had, as though it was not his own. Looking down at the little green book in his hand the Sharingan wielder swore the pages were laughing at him. Sighing, Kakashi decided his perverted thought in regards to the pink haired woman was the result of him unfortunately spending too much time reading Icha Icha. Seriously, eighteen though Sakura may be, he needed to get laid if he was starting to think about one of his students in that way.

No matter how attractive a woman she obviously becoming. Perhaps in a year or two? Damn, another stray perverted thought. Shrugging his shoulders a second later and Kakashi was back to reading his new favorite book. Lord Jiraiya had really outdone himself with the latest Icha Icha. Alone in the hollowed remains of a tree, perverted giggles could be heard coming from Hatake Kakashi.

* * *

><p>"I can't believe I had to toss away my jacket you bastard!" Uzumaki Naruto shouted indignantly at the older blonde whose arm was wrapped around his neck and he was supporting. After moving to help the apparently ill Namikaze, out of the kindness of his heart the ramen obsessed teen added, he was rewarded by having the misfortune of taking the place of a bucket for the very green son of a Hokage. He was now clad in the plain black tee-shirt that he kept under his favorite jacket. That jacket had been something his more perverted teacher had given him, and now Naruto had lost one of the few gifts he had ever received in his difficult life and all because he was trying to be <em>helpful<em>! Such betrayal on the part of Arashi demanded compensation, and Naruto would extract his payment in a week long ramen binge at Ichiruka's courtesy of the elder blondes' wallet. What made it worse was that some of the Namikaze's regurgitated meal had caked the necklace that Baa-chan had given him. Despite how sick, sick enough that he considered just putting it in a storage seal, it may have been Naruto had cleaned it as best he could before placing it around his neck again.

A loud and painful groan was the first response and was soon followed by a rather undignified attempt at intimidation, "Fishcake. If you value your life you had best shut up before I kill you."

Naruto snorted before sticking his tongue at the other blonde, "Considering that you're looking weak enough that a night alone in this forest could kill you, I really ain't all that intimidated by that threat."

Arashi lifted his head to glare half-heartedly at his fellow self. Smirking in a way that showed he had a plan to back up his earlier statement, "That might indeed be true, Naruto. Unfortunately for you kid, I can see quite a few problems with you doing that."

The Uzumaki raised an eye brow at the words. Looking up into the sky he could see that they were losing sunlight, maybe half an hour before the sun set in the forest. To compensate for his sick companion, Naruto had decided it would be best to catch up with the other Konoha-Nin by walking on the forest floor. No matter how angry he was, and for multiple reasons to, at Arashi it paled in comparison to how bored he could get. With that in mind he decided to continue the conversation they had just started, "And would Mister-Puke-All-Over-My-Shirt please tell me what he _thinks _I may have missed?"

"Really? That's the best you could come up with?"

"What? Oh hell no! I just don't want the guy who made me lose my _favorite jacket_ trying to steal the creativity going through this head of mine."

"You give yourself way too much credit Fishcake. In my experience there are only a few people alive at any given time who should ever be allowed to run their mouths. And you know what? They all happen to have a knack for spotting the perfect moment to drop some subtle or over the top statements that show that they are either insane or insanely brilliant."

"What's being insane have to do with me having anything cool to say?"

"You admitting you're insane then Fishcake? Wow, it took me weeks to say that myself."

'Oi! I am not in-wait. _You're _insane?"

"Of course kid. Insanity is just another word for people everyone thinks are lacking a few things upstairs, but are usually the ones who become famous world wide. Or was that infamous? Anyway, I happen to have gone insane a few times I think. Enough times that I'm not totally aware if I happen to be normal right now, or if I have reached that point of insanity where I believe that I am sane. And its people like that that everyone has to watch out for."

Naruto looked up slightly at the man who was steadily regaining the color he had lost while _ruining _the younger blondes' orange stripped jacket. Until he returned to Konoha, and until he got some answers regarding the furball, Naruto refused to let the matter go. He worried that if he didn't then he might ask the Namikaze the questions he wanted to know, and that the answers might lead to a fight between them. If it came to that Naruto wanted the fight to be after Ero-sennin had given a few more people the seals that had stopped the Kyuubi's chakra from taking over his mind and body. With that in mind Naruto smirked before opening his mouth and speaking a way to hide the still present anger he felt, "Ha! If you really are insane then I shouldn't trust what you're saying to me. This means that there really isn't anything stopping me from leaving you in the forest alone while I get to catch up with my friends and sleep by the warm campfire they'll probably have set up when I get there."

It was Arashi's turn to offer a snort in response to a blonde ninja's words. Shaking his head in amusement the son of the Yondaime Hokage began to speak in a chiding tone, "Maybe, but you can't leave me behind if _I'm _the one with that right Fishcake. And _that_, Naruto, is the first problem I see with you leaving me alone."

"Mind saying that-WHAT THE HELL!" Naruto finished shouting as he separated from Arashi and barely managed to avoid receiving a kunai in his kidneys. As it was he did not avoid the light cut from the sharpened blade as Arashi managed a second slash. Not willing to chance any closer strikes, the youngest of the pair quickly brought his hands up to make the hand seal needed for a second use of Kage Bunshin. The two clones he made were quickly taken down after Arashi delivered an upwards slash at one with his tri-pronged kunai while elbowing the neck of the other. The split-second action allowed Naruto to create some distance between him his assailant.

Flipping the kunai in his hand so that the blade was perpendicular to the ground he was standing on, Arashi smoothly moved into a basic guard stance. Without any additional movement he created two of his Kage Bunshin on either side of him. The blonde man and his four clones each had the same amused and taunting grin on their faces. Together they began to speak, "The next time you decide to carry an unknown Shinobi, _never _assume that what you are seeing of them is real. Deception is the unchanging universal aspect shared by all ninja no matter their home. That was part one of the first problem I noticed; you mistakenly assumed that just because I am the son of Hokage that I would not pose any threat to Konoha soldier. You clearly forgot that I am still at the moment a Nuke-Nin."

Growling in the back of his throat Naruto formed three times as many of his own Bunshin. The two sides continued to stare unflinchingly at the other as the sun continued to set behind Arashi. A grim smile came over Naruto's face as he narrowed cobalt-blue eyes and drew his own kunai, an action quickly followed by his own force of clones. The smile soon turned into a feral smirk reminiscent of a fox's, "You know what? This is the perfect excuse that I can use to really make you miserable."

Across from him Arashi had an equally foxy grin plastered to his face. Behind that grin however he was methodically taking in as many details as he could discern from Naruto. This world's version of himself was clearly unaware of his heritage considering how surprised he had been upon hearing that the name of the Yondaime Hokage was Namikaze Minato. That was confirmed when Kakashi and Gai had exchanged looks when he had mentioned the boy's heritage. In his travels after becoming a Missing Ninja Arashi had taken time to learn more about the world, including as much as he could about Jinchuriki of other nations. He had discovered that it was disgustingly common for the containers of the Tailed-Beasts to often become little more than mindless weapons for their respective homes, few actually having any real sense of free will.

Naruto was obviously the container for Kyuubi, any doubts Arashi privately held had been crushed when he felt the Fox's chakra leaking from the Genin. It was also equally obvious that he was not some kind of mindless weapon of mass destruction. Combined with his lack of knowledge regarding his parentage pointed to him being ignored by the Shinobi forces of the Leaf, and quite possibly the civilian population of the village as well. Naruto _knew _Kage Bunshin, he _knew _the Rasengan, and he was on the way to becoming a master of the sealing arts. By his age Arashi had been in ANBU Black Ops, and Naruto was still a Genin who he doubted had more than three years of experience at most. With all the potential the younger him had it was maddening that he was at such a low station.

Arashi needed to see for himself what the village had done to Naruto by not paying much attention to him. He hoped that it was _just _ignoring him anyway, Kami help any who had harmed the boy in his younger years. The Namikaze also wanted to see how much control he had over the Biju inside of him as well. And if Uzumaki Naruto was anything like him, then the best way to find anything out was through a fight. That in mind Arashi allowed the grin to shrink in size before opening his mouth to speak one last time before they began fighting, "Well Naruto. I'm sure Kakashi Nii-san probably says this to you and your lovely teammate," he continued on through the indignant shout, "but I think I'll say it anyway. Come at me with the intent to kill."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Long time no update. Or was it just enough time? Anyway I've decided to avoid my whole review chapter thing for the previous four chapters. Why? Because you guys didn't really leave me much to respond to in a way that would have given the response chapter thing any purpose. Hopefully this new set of four will generate more of what I want, something that warrants a long response. Begin expecting at least four more updates in the next two weeks<strong>

**I've also decided to cut on the AN length because I can't take them as funny as other authors here so they don't really serve much of anything really. **

**In case you couldn't tell, I tried to add in a light KakaSaku moment halfway through. Why? Because I'm curious to see how you guys would respond to something like that. There will be a few pairings later on, read between the lines and you'll know who Kakashi is paired with, that don't involve Naruto or Arashi. Kakashi will not pursue Sakura at any point just to be clear, although its not to say he won't be attracted to her on some level and vice versa. Uzumaki's generation of classmates, as well as Gai's team, and the Suna trio are all at least eighteen by the way. **

**Am I good at building suspense, or not all? Because I know there are few things hidden in this chapter for you guys to find. Did I make Naruto's growing resentment of Arashi's existence at least somewhat believable, or did I kinda rush it and not keep in in character? **

**Oh yeah, I just have one last thing to say before I go. **

**To Skeptical, who left me a review on May Eighth on Chapter Four, no. Namikaze will **_**not, NOT I SAY**_**, be taking over the spotlight from Naruto. For the majority of the fic they'll share the spotlight, at least that's what I'm shooting for. **

**That's it, SpartanCommando is out. **


	6. The Craziness Doubles

A Space-Time Ninjutsu Mess

_**Chapter Six: Arashi's test against Naruto does not go as planned, and he has to explain the details to Konoha. While he is interrogated by the best in the business, he reveals some of his secrets to a village that in his own world has hunted him for much of his recent life, and in the world he is currently in believes him to be a fraud. It all ends with Naruto waking up in a hospital to find an old classmate standing watch over him. **_

**Special Thanks to DragonKnightRyu for being this story's betareader.**

Disclaimer: I do not in any way shape or form own Naruto Shippuden, or anything unique to it. The show and manga are owned by Kishimoto-Massashi. I think I do own Namikaze Naruto though, or at least the one in this fiction since as of yet Naruto hasn't changed his name in the manga. I do not own Uchiha Itari, both the name and her appearance belong to fellow author BigCC. The Fusion Sword belongs to the team who worked one FFVII: Advent Children and, just to be safe, Square Enix. Also, there may be parts of this story where I combine certain things from the English, and Japanese parts of Naruto.

* * *

><p>"Normal Speech"<p>

_Normal Thoughts_

'Human Speech' (Inside Mindscape)

'_Human Thought' _(Inside Mindscape)

"_**Bijuu Speech" **_(Outside Mindscape)

**-Bijuu Speech- **(Inside Mindscape)

'_**Bijuu Thought'**_

"**Summons Speech"**(With certain exceptions)

'**Summons Thoughts'**(With certain exceptions)

* * *

><p>Duck the roundhouse kick, roll left and avoid Rasengan to the back. Drop to the ground and allow the shuriken to fly overhead and strike two Kage Bunshin. Push off the ground then raise left kunai up to catch the downwards slash at the purposely exposed back. Use right kunai to parry a second clone's assault to the right then disengage with the Bunshin behind. Allow the clone to lose balance and step forward and into its brother. Jump away from the two recovering Bunshin and throw an explosive-tag between them.<p>

Turn 180 degrees and throw the left and right kunai into a pair of clones charging up an Ōdama Rasengan. Run through the smoke left behind by the two's dispelling and form a pair of Fūton Kage Bunshin. Grab the clone nearest and hurl it up and towards the forest canopy. The second Fūton clone steps out of the smoke and into an ambush of five Kage Bunshin. Perform substitution with the Kage Bunshin underground. Wait three seconds, hear the massive burst of air pressure, then burst out of the ground and latch onto the original.

Open palm jab towards left elbow, curse silently as it bursts into smoke, draw hand full of shuriken then throw at the incoming hostile shuriken. Don't wait for the long range weapons to connect, instead draw a single kunai with the right hand then leap into the trees. Catch the flicker of movement in the periphery of the left eye, shift stance and brace for the collision. The ring of shuriken striking shuriken echo as the thrown clone connects head first with left side. Grit teeth as the sound of cracking ribs is heard and spin on the right foot to parry three thrown kunai in rapid succession. See electric-blue move behind a thick tree for cover then raise kunai to mouth. Form three Kage Bunshin and one Fūton Kage Bunshin to counter charge the rushing dozen enemy clones. Channel wind chakra into kunai and watch as it forms a makeshift scimitar. Launch forward towards the tree where the original uses as cover and pull back right arm, lean towards the left and avoid a Rasengan from a single Bunshin then form another clone to deal with it before jumping off another branch, and slash diagonally across the three.

Watch as the massive obstacle is cleanly cut in half and falls to the ground. Widen eyes at the incoming Kage Bunshin covered in exploding-tags. React by using a Kawarimi with the one Fūton Kage Bunshin as the grinning clone closes in. Watch as the Fūton Kage Bunshin is caught in a bear hug by the enemy Bunshin. Fall backwards and stick to the underside of a tree branch to avoid a pair of Ōdama Rasengan attacks. Cease chakra flow to feet and free fall to the forest floor as the top half of the tree is annihilated. The Fūton Kage Bunshin detonates at the exact moment as the exploding-tagged Bunshin does, combing with it to create a powerful outward rush of wind.

Curl into a ball as the wind collides and feel the sting of dozens of deep burning cuts before the burst of air arrives and plummet to the ground. Take the fall on the right arm and avoid breaking already cracked ribs on the left side. Maintain grip on kunai and fight through the immediate pain then lash out with a kick to catch a blur of black and orange. Smirk at the connection and cry of pain before quickly rolling left and bring kunai into an upwards slash. Hear the wind being cut by the weapon and feel warm drops of liquid splatter over a Sunagakure flak jacket.

See the opponent hastily leap away before placing a hand over his bleeding left shoulder. Do not relax guard after seeing him take cover behind a tree once again. Allow the wind to disperse from the kunai before channeling it once again to add speed and sharpness to the blade, and then aim for the shine of metal atop the head before throwing. Revel in the flash of fear before narrowing eyes as a trio of Kage Bunshin forms a shield halfway between the opponents. Step to full height before crossing arms over chest. Tilt head to left side as the anger coming from behind the tree could almost be tasted in the air.

"Is that the best you can do Fishcake? I'm really disappointed in what you're turning out to look like. _I _could have kicked your ass when I was only _ten _for Kami's sake if this is all you can do."

Naruto narrowed his eyes as his ears picked up the words he _knew _were meant to goad him into preemptive action. It was something the blonde Jinchuriki wanted nothing more to do and he had to force himself to remain behind what protection the tree could afford him at the moment. He winced in pain before looking at the most severe injury he had obtained in his fight with Arashi. Crimson lines streamed past his fingers and rivulets of blood fell to the ground. Naruto strained to flex the fingers on his left hand. To his great and utter disappointment the most that he could do with the appendage was a simple twitch. Groaning Naruto paid no attention to the small amount of pain he felt as soon as he hit the back of his head on tree bark. The injury wasn't even that bad but it had destroyed the nerves connecting his arm and brain together.

All around him he could hear the taunting voice echo throughout the forest as Arashi said in a sing-song tone, "Oh U-Zu-Ma-Ki Fishcake, won't you come out from behind that tree and play with me? Is that little paper cut I gave you bothering you too much? If it is, I promise you that I can make it go away…All you have to do is let me cut the arm off at the shoulder and BAM! You have a whole new pain to keep your mind off it! Aren't I so nice?"

The Uzumaki felt a warm line of _something _slide down his jaw and tasted something hot and irony. He soon noticed a very small pain and found that he had unconsciously bit down on his lip to keep from responding. Naruto needed to _think _up a plan to win while at the same time fighting off the mindset he had that preached head-on attack. Painfully learned first-hand experience taught him had shown him how suicidal anything direct would be against the man. The man was fast, as fast as Lee had been after opening the first several Inner Gates during the Chunin Exam's Preliminary Round, he was at least twice as physically powerful as Naruto, had a great deal of energy, and he had chakra control down to nearly the same level as Sakura.

"Why don't we hurry this up Fishcake? I think I've killed enough poor trees, and taken the homes of enough innocent forest creatures for one night by now."

…And the man had yet to stop taunting him. Not even Sasuke's fan girls had ever taunted him as long as Arashi had been, even when he made a major fool of himself. It was like the man was purposely trying to make him angry, hell he probably _was._

To make matters even worse, Naruto was virtually unaware of any of the man's jutsu. All Arashi had done while fighting Naruto was use a mix of Taijutsu, some Kenjutsu, Bunshin techniques, Kawarimi, and that weird thing he did with a kunai. Channeling chakra into the tri-pronged kunai and creating a long blade of wind was amazing. Then there was that crazy variation of the Kage Bunshin his opponent was using. Somehow Arashi was able to create Shadow Clones that would not dispel with a puff of smoke like his own would. Instead his Bunshin would basically explode and launch blades of wind everywhere before flattening everything within twenty meters. While Naruto was not the smartest of people, he could tell that the second aspect was caused by some kind of massive change in air pressure.

Aside from those, Naruto had been told by Kakashi that Arashi also had some kind of teleportation jutsu that not even the Sharingan could keep track of. As far he could tell Arashi hadn't used his special kunai that way at all. It was insulting to know that the Yondaime Hokage's son was obviously toying with him. The difference in skill level was insane, and Naruto knew he was way behind him in nearly every area. Naruto refused to give up even with that knowledge however. Surrender just was not his style and would never be no matter how appealing the prospect of doing so was to him.

Naruto tried to move his left hand again and once again could only manage a twitch. He knew that the Kyuubi could heal any injury he sustained when fighting, but that took time. Already he could feel the burning sensation caused whenever the Fox, or he himself reluctantly, used its chakra encompass his entire left arm. The cut itself soon vanished although he knew that it would take at least five minutes before the nerves were replaced. That meant five minutes of fighting a man who could kill him whenever he chose with only one hand.

Naruto moved his right hand for his weapons pouch and drew a handful of shuriken. If Bushy-Brows could get up after having his arm and leg crushed while unconscious, then he could last five minutes easy.

Pressing his back up against the tree Naruto channeled chakra into his legs before opening his mouth, "Screw you Arashi! And what you gave me was as far from a paper cut as I am from being a pervert!"

"…That really isn't doing much for what I'm thinking Fishcake. Not much at all."

Naruto moved away from the tree and used the chakra stored in his legs to launch him at Arashi's taller form. Upon seeing the smaller blonde come at him Arashi quickly brought the kunai in his right hand up to catch Naruto's own. The two blades connected before Arashi could fully channel chakra to his feet in order maintain a firm hold on the ground. Naruto's momentum was enough to knock the taller man off balance and surprised. Smirking, Naruto quickly tried to land a series of kicks against Arashi's torso. Not willing to loosen his hold on the kunai in his right hand, Arashi swiftly brought his left arm to block the barrage.

That was when he heard the sound of shuriken moving through the air. The sound grew louder and closer until Arashi discovered that they were coming from a tree behind him. Smiling faintly at what Naruto had done, Arashi disappeared from his position in an instant. The Kage Bunshin who had attacked him with a kunai had a look of surprise on its face just before being riddled by the original's shuriken. Hidden in the shadows of the forest canopy Naruto blinked before frantically looking for the location of the other blonde.

"_**Kit! Behind us!" **_

Hearing the warning being roared from within his mind, Naruto tried to avoid whatever Arashi was about to do. Unfortunately the Fox's warning had been to slow and the Kyuubi Jinchuriki cried out in pain. His eyes moved towards the source of the pain and saw the bloody steel of one of the tri-pronged protruding halfway out of his previously wounded shoulder. With the span of only a second after registering that fact, Naruto felt something smash into his spine, dislocate the uninjured shoulder, and then stomp on the back of his ankles. Then he felt the cold steel of a kunai above his heart along with a feeling of nothingness.

The owner of the kunai at his throat began to speak, "I can't decide whether to feel impressed or disappointed right now, Naruto." He then felt an arm wrap around his neck ready to snap it in an instant.

Naruto froze at how cold and almost mechanical Arashi's voice had gotten, and then could not help but widen his eyes as the man began leaking out a massive Killing Intent. The amount he was exuding was enough to make Naruto as helpless as when Team Seven had first met Momochi Zabuza so long ago in wave. Fighting through the fear Naruto unwillingly allowed it to show in his words, "W-what are you talking about?"

The arm wrapped around his neck tightened substantially and cut off the flow of air into Naruto's lungs. He felt the kunai at his heart pierce the thin black material of his tee-shirt and begin cutting away at it before Arashi began speaking again, "What I mean, is that you are afraid of going all out."

"What are you," Naruto responded while struggling to breath. "What are you talking about? I was going all out on you!"

"The only way you could make that statement true, would be if you used what you keep inside you. I want to see it for myself."

"If you're talking about what I _think _you are, then you really are INSANE!"

The youngest of the pair felt something placed above his heart, "Fūinjutsu: Keijijou Goudoukaigou (Sealing Techniques: Metaphysical Joint Meeting)!"

* * *

><p>Izumo Kamizuki and Kotetsu Hagane remained on the edge of their seats while sneaking glances all around the temporary table placed in the Gate Check-in Station. The two Chunin were engaged in a six way match of poker with several of Konohagakure better known ninja. Aside from the regularly assigned gate guards, the players included: Mitarashi Anko, Sarutobi Asuma, Yamanaka Inochi, and Yuuhi Kurenai. Izumo being the more reserved of the two guards was immensely grateful that they had covered up the windows of the station. The match had started with a drunken bet the night before made by Kotetsu that Anko was terrible at card games. This led to Anko organizing a game the very next day of her own choice and she naturally chose the most embarrassing; strip poker.<p>

As it stood the only ones to have lost any clothes were Izumo, wearing only his pants, underwear, and sandals, and Kotetsu, in _only _his boxers and headband.

Izumo turned to glare at his partner and best friend and the man responsible for the mess. He also gave a look that said, _'you idiot! Look at what you've done!' _

Kotetsu sighed before nodding his head to accept the blame. The bandage-nosed Chunin returned the look of his friend with one that said, _'I know, I know. But _I'm _worse than you so shut it!' _

Kurenai caught the exchange of looks between the Chunin and remembered her own experience of incorrectly accusing Anko of anything. Her friend had the nasty habit of taking things to the extreme and _always _found a way to make sure she never got the worst of a situation. The only time Kurenai could avoid anything too bad was whenever drinks were involved, and that was only because she could hold her drinks down better than the Snake Mistress. With that in mind she decided to give the two a short respite from what was going to inevitably befall them, "So Anko. I hear you took on your first team of Genin recently."

A stick of dango protruding from her lips, Anko turned to level a pupil-less look in the direction of one of her own friends. Placing her own hand face down she then raised a finger in a waiting gesture before quickly devouring her snack. The Tokubetsu Jonin soon took the dango skewer out of her mouth before throwing it behind her chair without aim, where the stick joined a collection of others in perfect representation of a garden snake chasing after a field mouse. Picking her hand back up she began planning her next move again while responding to words of the Genjutsu Mistress, "Yeah, I finally get my own team of brats. They are _real _easy to scare, just show them one of my bigger summons and they provide a lot of entertainment. 'Specially your nephew Sarutobi."

Asuma spat out the small sip of tea he had been drinking before falling into a coughing fit. Inochi, being the one closest to the man, began to lightly smack his back and allow the man to breathe normally again. Once he could speak again the Sarutobi looked up fearfully, "You left Konohamaru alone with a giant snake!"

Anko shot him a dirty look as though she had been insulted, "No. Geez, what do take me for? Some kinda psychotic bitch? Please, I reserve that for my day job…I made sure his two teammates were with him before I let Shuushuku-kun out to play with my brats. He's been very lonely lately; I'm not letting my baby out much anymore. He missed being around kids too apparently, though I don't know why. They didn't even start it interesting; as soon he showed up they just started running."

Asuma looked like he was about to have a heart attack before he made to leave the table. Immediately both Izumo and Kotetsu leapt over the table to force him back down.

Struggling to hold down the Jonin Izumo spoke, "Hell no Asuma! If _we _can't leave this there's no way you are!

"Let me go! I have to make sure my nephew hasn't been bitten yet!"

Kurenai blinked twice before turning to Anko and asking an unspoken question.

Correctly determining what the question was Anko shook her head, "Actually Shuushuku-kun isn't venomous. He prefers to find his prey and give them a nice, scaly, and clingy hug by wrapping around them," Here the Special Jonin sighed before leaning back in her chair and looking wistfully at the ceiling, "I remember when I used to fall asleep with him as my own personal pillow and living blanket."

"That's supposed to make me feel better how?"

"Oh c'mon Sarutobi, gimme a break. Besides, not like I'm the only Jonin Instructor to potentially accidentally have killed a few of their batch, here right?" Dead silence from the other three Jonin was her answer, along with different looks. Kurenai had palmed her forehead while muttering something about 'only Anko', Inochi looked like he was trying to determine whether or not she was serious or joking, and Asuma looked downright terrified into submission. Narrowing her eyes Anko delivered a glare at her group of fellow upper-level ninja, "Really? I'm joking here guys, I especially told my darling little baby snake not to eat any of bunch of brats, and threatened to keep him away from the Forest of Death as punishment."

Inochi was the one who decided to respond that time, "Why would that stop one of your summons?"

Anko delivered a regretful look in return that surprised all but Kurenai, "Because my baby likes to stalk the forest for big meals. That's why I think he wouldn't have eaten any of my Genin at all. Combine the three of them aren't enough meet for him to even be interested in snacking on."

Asuma had no idea whether he felt reassured or even more worried for his nephew after that statement.

Kotetsu, who had by that time fully restrained Asuma with aid from Izumo, looked up at one of the best of the T&I Department. Putting on his best apologetic look the Chunin attempted to get out of the game he was losing, "Hey um Anko, listen I'm _really _sorry about saying you sucked at cards 'cause you're a-", a dango skewer grazed his left cheek and drew blood, "-beautiful and sexy woman! But I can see that you're much better than me or Izumo, so can't we call it even? Please? We need to get back to work, uh, guarding the Check-in station, right Izumo?" His friend nodded eagerly with his own desperate look.

Anko took on a speculative thinking stance, her chin cupped in her left hand, while humming lightly at the same time pushing her own chair on its back legs and keeping perfect balance. Tilting her head to the left she smiled sweetly before shaking her head in a 'no' statement. Izumo and Kotetsu slumped in defeat and resignation before going back to their seats. Anko put on a devilish smirk as she looked at them like the snakes she summoned, "Sorry boys, but I don't listen to sore losers. Now, maybe if you actually _won _a hand I might consider ending the match, _might _being the key word. Besides, I seriously doubt that anyone will be coming by here in the next few minutes." As she turned her gaze back towards her hand of cards, the sound of claws desperately scratching against the wall caught their attention. Anko groaned at her poor luck while Kurenai giggled at how _fitting _the situation had become for her friend.

Putting on her most frightening glare Anko stood up and pulled a kunai from her pouch before marching off towards the door. In the blink of an eye Anko had kicked the door off its hinges and thrown her kunai so that it would strike in the general abdomen area for most people. The thrown weapon struck nothing, and the second sound to reach the ears of the players was that of ragged panting. The Snake Mistress looked in the direction of the sound and caught sight of a certain pug that looked about ready to drop dead and carried a scroll in its mouth. When the little ninken noticed he was being watched, he managed to get back on his feet and walk several steps before collapsing once he reached Anko's shadow.

Looking up into the woman's face the pug dropped the scroll before given Anko a look, "I cover the distance between the borders of Hi no Kuni and Kaze no Kuni to home so I can deliver this message in half the time it normally takes at a good speed, and you people decide _kicking _a door at me is a proper thank you?"

Blinking owlishly, Anko soon rubbed the back of her head in embarrassment before taking another look at the pug. The little dog looked strangely familiar for some reason as she carefully scrutinized him before asking curiously, "Wait a minute, hold up. Haven't I met you before?" Behind her the rest of the group of card playing ninja got up and walked closer to see the pug.

The ninken looked tiredly up at the collection of Shinobi and Kunoichi, doing a double take upon seeing Izumo and Kotetsu and their amount of clothing, before snorting. Rolling its eyes the dog began to answer, "Kakashi and me brought some spy or another to your department together about a year ago?"

Realization showed in Anko's eyes as she made an 'o' sound. She had a faraway look in her eyes as the memory came back to her; that day had been an especially good day for Anko. Smiling wickedly she nodded her head energetically, "I remember now. Pakkun right? Thanks for that by the way, he was a _really _fun guy to guy to break in. Oto Jonin are so afraid to talk to me, I just can't help but feel extra happy at the end of a good interrogation."

Silence greeted her again, though the smiling Snake Mistress paid no notice.

Realizing that her friend was in her own little world at the moment, Kurenai sighed before stooping down to pick up the message that Pakkun had clearly pushed himself to deliver. As the red-eyed Jonin opened up the scroll Pakkun yawned before speaking again, "Before I fall asleep, Kakashi told me to tell the guards-," here he gave the aforementioned Chunin a weird look, "-that they would be about fifteen minutes behind me and won't be stopping." Dropping its head to the ground a puff of smoke signaled that, with the completion of his mission, Pakkun had returned to the Realm of Summons.

As soon as the little dog was gone Kurenai found herself surrounded by the group of Jonin and Chunin. Anko had gotten behind her and placed her head on her friend's shoulder as she began reading as well. Only Kurenai, someone who knew her better than anyone else, noticed the Snake Mistress's faint trace of worry as they both silently read the message. It was Asuma who decided to open his mouth first when he saw his fellow Jonin tense slightly when it looked like she had reached the end of the short and hastily written message, "Would you mind enlightening us as to what the message is Kurenai?"

With a hint of worry in her voice the Genjutsu Mistress did just that, "Team's Kakashi and Gai are hurrying back to the village as we speak. They have two injured members, one of which is critical, and have apprehended a Missing-Ninja from the village. Kakashi requests that both Hokage-sama and Inochi-san be at the hospital to meet them immediately."

With a word of apology Inochi forced himself to her side where he took the scroll himself. Reading the message over with his own eyes, the long haired Clan Head had a look of befuddlement on his face. Shaking his head slightly the older man turned to give a serious look at Kurenai, "Kurenai, if you would accompany me as well? The only reason Hatake would request my presence along with Hokage-sama's own would be if one of the two injuries is mental. If that is the case then I believe that there may be a chance that a powerful Genjutsu may have been used. Your abilities would be most helpful in that situation."

Nodding her head both Jonin disappeared in a swirl of leaves…And Anko landed face first on the dirt as shoulder she had placed her chin on was gone as well. Jumping back to her feet in an instant, all traces of humor on her face was lost as she quickly became more serious in regards to the situation. Her eyes followed the faint tracks left behind by Pakkun and looked in the direction where the two Konoha teams were likely to be, injured members and prisoner in tow. "I'd better go and stop my little test now. A traitor to the village…Ibiki _won't _be able to keep me away from that bastard. Especially if he happens to know anything about Orochimaru."

Asuma, knowing full well of Anko's pure hate towards all things traitor, nodded his head. As the Snake Mistress Shunshin'd as well, the son of the Sandaime Hokage delivered a level look at Izumo and Kotetsu. The Chunin were as serious as the Jonin had been and had a professional look to them, "You guys follow me. I know Kakashi and he is not the type of guy to send a message that far ahead of his team unless he had good reason. In other words we should react as though our comrades are being pursued by an enemy force and move accordingly."

The three Shinobi shared a look of understanding and moved to reinforce their fellow soldiers as one.

* * *

><p>The Godaime Hokage, Tsunade of the Sannin, closed her eyes and again saw one of her ninja and felt helpless. Anyone who knew the blonde-pigtailed woman would know that she absolutely detested the feeling with a burning passion. She had been helpless to save her lover and younger brother years earlier, and she was helpless to do anything for the teen laid out on a bed in the Konoha Hospital. Behind closed eyes, bright blonde spiky hair, whisker-like birthmarks, tanned skin, and unfocused electric-blue eyes stared back at her. The closest thing to a son she would ever have in life and she was forced to hand over his care to a man more suited to helping the boy. If she hadn't felt helpless, then the situation would have been insulting to a woman who prided herself on medical ability.<p>

At the moment she was standing on one side of one of the Village Intelligence Division's interrogation rooms. Flanking her on the left were her two apprentices, Sakura and Shizune, while to her right was her sole loyal teammate and fellow Sannin, Jiraiya. All had looks of worry as they each remembered the quiet that was so unusual for any room that the loudmouthed blonde Genin was in. It was something that they all hoped they wouldn't have to experience for a long time after Naruto woke up. At least, Tsunade _hoped _he would wake up. After nearly a day of working around the clock Inochi was still no closer to reawakening the much younger blonde, and Genjutsu hadn't been used to put him in the state he was in, according to Yuuhi Kurenai. The two did come up with a very plausible theory that whatever had been done to the village prankster was more than likely connected with the man on the opposite side of the one-way window.

When the four of them first walked into the room, Jiraiya just about had a heart attack.

Sitting strapped to a chair with Morino Ibiki, the head of Konoha's Torture and Interrogation unit, looming over him was a man wearing a dirty sleeveless red muscle shirt and black pants. The pervert of a Seal Master memorized the exact design of the near dozen seals tattooed to the prisoner's right arm, along with a dark blue tattoo on the left that forever marked a man as having served in ANBU Black Ops. But it was the man's face that caused the Toad Sage to need help from his Hokage of a teammate to calm himself and sit down. The face of a man whose passing left an ever-open wound on Jiraiya's very soul, aside from the lack of blonde bangs lining his jaw that is. The spiky-haired and blue-eyed man with that same exact _look_ on his face, the collected and certain smile that showed he was always aware and thinking ahead, with the face of Namikaze Minato. After forcing the white-haired man to stand in front of her, Tsunade specially told him to, 'close that mouth, take a seat, _breath_, and avert those eyes' Jiraiya felt like he had reasonably level head.

…Up until the point that _Tsunade_, the easy-to-anger woman capable of leveling entire buildings with her fists, had to struggle to restrain him from entering the room and killing the self-proclaimed Namikaze. The second blonde-haired Hokage had never seen a look of unadulterated anger and murder in the eyes of her teammate in all their years than at that one moment. And as much as she wanted to join him in beating the man responsible for Naruto's present condition, the idea was as tempting as a bottle of good sake to her in that instance, the invisible weight of that ridiculous hat made itself known to her. As Hokage it was her duty to find out whether or not the man had any information pertaining to either the Akatsuki or Orochimaru in the slightest…_Then _they could slowly beat him to death in such a way that even Ibiki would find gut-wrenching.

"You guys want to know what I did to Fishcake?"

The voice brought both Sannin to a screeching halt. It was the first time since entering the room that they had heard the prisoner speak at all. Jiraiya had to close his eyes and mentally struggle to make he believed that it was a _fake _he was hearing because the voice sounded exactly like his deceased student's. A mix of one-part analytical, two-part curious, one-part confident and three-part kind. It was a voice that had humbled the teacher by teaching him a new jutsu, the voice that had brought emotions of parental pride into the open, a voice which made him to be the Child of Prophecy in Jiraiya's eyes once upon a time. The Toad Summoner had never felt his fifty-plus years more than in that moment, nor the feeling of loss and failure at having had a hand in his greatest pupil's death.

Tsunade caught the pained look of her teammate easily, and saw the barely noticeable shake in his body. Unconsciously Tsunade remembered her own deceased apprentice; a highly talented young Kunoichi by the name of Inuzuka Rin, who by chance had been a student of Minato as well. It was one of the Slug Princess's few regrets that were always in the back of her mind. Tsunade had never been able to finish Rin's training as the young woman refused her offer to travel with her and Shizune when she first left the village. It was only after returning to take the title of Hokage that Tsunade discovered that Rin had gone on a mission nearly seven years earlier and was presumed dead along with the rest of the team she had been leading. With a look of understanding the blonde Hokage placed a comforting hand on her friends shoulder. Jiraiya gave her a look of pure thanks in return.

A slight cough caught their attention and the two Sannin turned to look at a smiling Shizune and a curious Sakura. Realizing what it may have looked like to her apprentices Tsunade quickly pushed the tall man away from her before returning her attention to the interrogation. Ibiki was only mildly surprised to hear the man speak for the first time; the current session had only begun half an hour earlier. The man was to be referred to as 'Arashi' due to the name being a part of two of the three different aliases the person had given Team's Kakashi and Gai. The interrogator allowed the silence between him and the prisoner to last several more seconds before responding, "The _Hokage _would like to know what happened to him. One of my coworkers would like to know what you did to him. Myself on the other hand…" The man placed two items on the wooden desk separating him from Arashi. One was his dual-slashed Konohagakure head band; the other was a larger version of the standard ninja Bingo Book. The blonde man's gaze switched between focusing on the headband and book. His eyes showed that he knew _exactly _what his interrogator was going to say next. With a cruel smirk the heavily scared man looked down at the younger man, "I want to know, just who you really are."

Leaning back in his chair Arashi turned to stare at the one-way window where the four others were. Closing his eyes the blonde smiled a disturbingly accurate copy of the one Naruto always had whenever the teen revealed a new prank. Opening his eyes the Konoha-nin saw challenging gleam shining behind their cobalt-blue. The Naruto-like grin still present he turned to Ibiki and tilted his head up to meet the older man's gaze, "Well if you say pretty please with a smile on that face of yours _or_, and this would get me the reveal my deepest darkest secrets, a pair of busty women, one blonde and red, to come in here wearing a skimpy two-piece bikini and make out on this desk, I'd be happy to tell you."

Behind the window three women had a twitch in their eyes while a Super Pervert wisely moved apart from them.

Inside the room Ibiki rolled his eyes at the man's words. Prisoner always did one of four things before the Interrogation actually got underway; they either played silent, started running their mouths, try and turn the tables on him, or try and goad the interrogator into killing them. What he had just heard wasn't even very original compared to some of the other things he heard on a weekly basis. Normally Ibiki would have tried to keep the man talking; occasionally he got some form of entertainment from the ones who spoke the language of bullshit fluently. Unfortunately he had a very specific piece of information that needed to be plucked from the man's mind.

Pity that Anko had been forced to head off into the Forest of Death to find both one of her summons and Genin team. The eccentric woman could have probably easily distracted Arashi given what the man's words implied.

Cracking his neck from side to side Ibiki placed his hands behind his back, "Sorry. I don't smile, and the T&I Department are tragically suffering from a lack our busty blonde and red haired recourses." Arashi tilted his head back and groaned as he was denied seeing one of his fantasies play out at his requests once again. Looking dejectedly up at the rooms only light on the ceiling, the Yondaime Hokage look-alike sighed. "You ready to start seriously answering my questions now?"

"Only if you tell me what the point is for me to answer you." Retorted the blonde-haired man. Locking gazes with his interrogator Arashi's face morphed to one of disinterest, "I mean let's get real here. What could a very special Kage Bunshin have to possibly tell you guys?"

"What did you say?"

"I happen to be a clone of the original, and prejudice be damned, I am proud to be one. I can use my father's Hirashin no Jutsu (Flying Thunder God Technique), and I beat a Jinchuriki who was using two-tails worth of power alone. Knowing that, is anyone really that surprised that the original left me behind for Kakashi and the others to find?"

"How do I know you're not bluffing this?" Ibiki questioned disbelievingly.

"Whether you believe me or not doesn't matter at the moment." Arashi brought his hands up his hands up to reveal a pair of shackles covering his forearms and preventing him from moving his hands to form hand seals. On each shackle was a seal with the kanji for 'lost' written in the center. "These are one of the seals made by my father, correct."

On the other side of the window Jiraiya ground his teeth at the word 'father'. _Liar, Minato only ever had one child in his life. And _he _is the one you put in that hospital bed._

Back in the room Ibiki stiffly nodded his head in the affirmative. With that action Arashi smirked and closed his eyes. Almost immediately the shackles were covered in a reddish glow before the seal was burned away and the shackles broken. All five Konoha-nin felt their eyes widen in shock as the prisoner began rubbing the parts of his arms where the skin appeared to be lightly burned. Not looking up from his actions Arashi began speaking again, "Every Seal Master is unique. Their seals are always different from the ones made by others, even if the seals are made for the same purpose. Because of that, each seal has a unique weakness that can be exploited. That action however requires intimate knowledge of the seal in question, something that only the person who created them can know. Dad taught me everything I know about Fūinjutsu, and I know everything about his seals."

Looking back up at Ibiki Arashi smiled before crossing his arms, "I also don't happen to be your average Bunshin. The original me has this habit of taking different jutsu and find a way to expand upon them. The Kage Bunshin in this case; when he made me he performed something he calls Shinzui Kage Bunshin no Jutsu (Life Blood Shadow Clone Jutsu). That jutsu creates a perfect clone of the user; solid, equal chakra reserves and capacity, individuality, mental capabilities, experience, and durability. Any Shinzui Kage Bunshin is fully sentient, and can take as much punishment as the original."

Ibiki looked truly intrigued by the technique, "Sounds like you have a lot of free time on your hands if you made a jutsu like that."

Arashi began flexing his fingers to force blood to flow through them before continuing, "True, but then again the Captain wasn't part of any village for the close to seven years. But how about we get back on topic now? The clones only dispel if they are killed like any other Shinobi. The bad news is that when he created that the Captain created a double edged sword. For all its benefits and uses the jutsu is even more dangerous than ordinary Kage Bunshin. First off, as an example, if someone were to pierce my heart with a kunai and I dispelled, then the pain would be felt by the original just the same. But that's not the biggest downside. You see, Shinzui clones can exist anywhere from a day to a few weeks, all depending on how much chakra the Captain uses to make one us. That timeframe however, is taken away from the life of the user. When the Captain created me, he lost a week of his lifespan."

With a puff of smoke two figures appeared in the room behind Ibiki. When the smoke dissipated a pair of stone faced Sannin stood next to each other. Smiling at the newcomers the Shinzui clone waved once before making a hidden hand seal.

* * *

><p>He felt a splitting headache followed by a wave of nausea. Slowly he became aware of the fact that half of his body was very wet. He required several minutes to realize that the sound of haggard and shallow breathing echoing around him was his own. Hesitantly a pair of heavy eyelids opened and then closed, revealing a pair of somewhat dulled electric-blue eyes.<p>

'Where, am I? What happened to me?'

**-You allowed your opponent to control the flow of battle. You became a toy to him.- **

Eyes opening wide at the deep and malicious voice, Naruto flipped himself over. He looked around his surroundings while trying to regain control of his breathing. A massive cage was in front of him, a paper seal attached to the bars. Murky water, walls, and pipes surrounded him. _'My mind! I'm back here with the Fox!' _

**-How pitiful and **_**embarrassingly **_**weak a container you are right now. There are moments when I feel that letting you die and being rid of you and your foolishness would be worth waiting the centuries needed reform.- **

The voice was followed by a deep guttural laugh that reminded the teen just what he kept away from his precious people. The monster that could kill them all with the slightest movement of its nine tails. A creature that could never die, or just disappear, something that could only be imprisoned. A pair of blood-red eyes opened from behind the cage and a massive head came into view. Crimson and orange fur seemed to glow a pale color as more of the massive form began to reveal itself.

Shakily rising to his feet, Naruto glared hatefully at the massive beast that was the reason for so many terrible things. The Bijuu that many people in Konoha believed him to be, simply trapped in the shell of a human. The demon that nearly destroyed the village, and killed his parents. The reason why he was sacrificed on the very day of his birth. Any chance at a normal start to his life gone, and all because of what was looking at him from behind the cage. His burden, his curse, his prisoner, his responsibility.

When he could finally stand on his own two feet Naruto wanted nothing more than to finally destroy the Kyuubi himself. Regrettably the best he could do was to survive and _make _sure it was trapped in that cage. Knowing that Naruto put on a taunting smile before opening his mouth, 'Keep talking you overgrown fur ball. After all that's almost all you can do anyway, being sealed inside a weak body and whatnot. If I'm so weak, what does that say about how powerful your chakra really is?' Surprisingly the Fox did not react at all to the jab by its jailer.

**-Leave.-**It said and exerted its control over the prison created by the seal to contain its power. Immediately the blonde teen disappeared and the legendary Kyuubi growled lowly as it could still detect another presence. **-You yet remain here, even after my host has left? - **The most powerful of the Bijuu remained silent as it listened for a response. Slowly it smiled widely and showed its teeth, **-I see. Very well. Let us**_**…Speak.**_**-**

* * *

><p>Flowers. He smelled flowers? Why were there flowers in his mindscape-wait! The Fox pushed him out, so that meant that he must be awake. But why didn't it feel like he was outside in a forest? He felt like he was someplace indoors, and on something very comfortable. The last thing he remembered was Arashi placing something over his heart, then feeling some of the worst pain he had ever experienced, and then seeing the Kyuubi's ugly face.<p>

Wait. Why did the air feel very cool, and why did he hear humming?

His nose picked up another scent. It smelled very familiar, and brought bad memories to the forefront of his mind. He couldn't smell much of anything aside from the faint trace of flowers. He began piecing what he knew together slowly, feeling his mind move sluggishly at the same time. He was on top of something decently comfortable, the air felt cooled and smelled like-DISINFECTANT! Naruto stopped trying to figure out where he was at that point. The moment his nose determined what why the air seemed so empty to scent his eyes opened.

Hospitals and Naruto never went well together. It wasn't even how on one or two visits members of the staff had tried to put him in a coma, or how the he was always the last person seen by a doctor no matter how badly he needed it. No. Naruto despised hospitals because they were always boring; boring colors, boring decorations, boring food, and usually boring people attending to him.

On second thought, why was he even _thinking _in the first place? Hospital. Bad. Leave. Find ramen. Those five words were all he needed to have running through his mind right then. Behind closed eyelids he noticed an outline getting closer.

Two and a half years of training under one of the Sannin paid off in that moment, as Naruto launched himself off the hospital bed and at the approaching hospital staff. Unfortunately he failed to take into account the fact that most of the people who worked in the hospital were highly trained Medical-Ninja, because as he opened his eyes he saw an incoming slap aimed at his face. Reacting, Naruto grabbed the arm attached to the hand and swung it to the right. What he did not see was that the figure was on the left of his hospital bed, and when he pulled the person's body fell on top of him.

Eyes blinking rapidly to regain his vision Naruto saw a pair of annoyed and narrowed green eyes. Very _close _green eyes. With a feeling of dread Naruto slowly drew his head back and looked over just who he had pulled down. It was a woman, his age and looked familiar, who was wearing a short purple shirt, an opened purple skirt and from what he could tell-_Thanks Ero-sennin for making me learn this- _a black short skirt, and fishnet shorts. More fishnet was placed over her elbows and knees. Waist long blonde ponytail with bangs covering the right side of her face. His cheeks developed a faint blush when he noticed that her chest was almost pressed down against his own.

Smiling sheepishly he forced out an awkward laugh as he realized what he had done to one of his friends, "Uh, hi Ino! Long time no see huh? Ha-ha-ha!" He unconsciously moved his arm up to rub the back of his head, one of his usual habits whenever he felt he had done something stupid. Unfortunately something blocked his hand from moving all the way, or rather a pair of something's. Instinctively he squeezed. Ino went wide-eyed and she moaned lowly as her eyes became lidded and a red blush spread over her facial features.

Crap.

As Ino's eyes snapped open a second later they seemed to hold a mix of rage, embarrassment, and pleasure. But at that moment all Naruto cared about was the rage, and then the fear as he remembered numerous times when Jiraiya had done things that weren't as bad as what he had done before being pummeled by angry women. Mentally Naruto made a note; if he survived considering how mad the Yamanaka heir looked, that he needed to get back at him for corrupting him with the older man's perverted ways.

* * *

><p>Staff, patients, and visitors alike all looked around curiously as a loud cry of pain followed by similar cries and begging resounded throughout the entire hospital. In his bed, and unable to move, Hatake Kakashi merely blinked once before making his famous eye-smile, "Well then how about that? Looks like Naruto's met a girl and felt her up considering what he's screaming about."<p>

With a box of her favorite dango sitting in her lap Anko smirked, "Remembering our first date are we?"

"That wasn't a date. That was you trying to take advantage of me the day after I left ANBU and went to a bar for the first time in years. Did you honestly think a sixteen year old could out drink a man on a mission to drown his sorrows?"

"First of all, you never drank before then in your life. I thought I'd be able to match you at least because of that. And secondly, it is so a date because you felt me up, paid for my meal, took me to your place, we laughed, we drunk, and woke up with crazy hangovers the next day with you on the couch and me on your bed." Anko said, finishing it up with an annoyed tone.

Kakashi's lone eye moved to look at her, "And how many nights have you been to my place and still had clothes on the next morning after that?" The Snake Mistress pointed up at the ceiling, and the Cyclops followed. "Really? Huh, I thought it was less."

"You do remember it took me over four years to get us to the friends-with-benefits part of the relationship, right?"

"Anko, are you implying this entire relationship is all because of you?"

"Considering how you're only on time for our dates, then yeah. I'm pretty sure it's all me."

"…So, where to after I get the go-ahead to leave this place?"

"It's been a month since you actually spent more than a few days in the village, seeing as how Hokage-sama loves giving you the good missions. I'll get back to you later, but heads up. I expect reparation in the form of having a one-eyed manservant for a full twenty-four hours after you set one foot out of this hospital."

"So, dango shops first followed by helping you scare your Genin during team exercises and finishing up with a romantic dinner at the most expensive restaurant in Konohagakure?"

"Yup!"

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Sorry for updating a bit later than I expected. Schools almost out though so expect my updates to come out much faster. This chapter is more comedy than anything else, so I hope that you guys like it. The only real action is at the begining of the chap. <strong>

**I'm going to point out somethings right now. I get the feeling that some of you might think that Anko could outdrink Kurenai. Maybe, maybe not, but I wrote this based on the fact that Kurenai's favorite foods(I have no idea how they consider it a food) are shōchū (strong o-sake), and vodka, and her favorite hobby is evening drinks. I assume she would have a higher tolerance for alchohol because of that. Also, I revealed two pairings in this chap. Kakashi and Anko, and Naruto and Ino. I may justify them, but I don't want to make this AN longer than it needs. If you're curious leave a review with any questions and I will answer them in the Review Response chapter. **

**On the note of Anko however, I know that some fics portray her as a very sexual person. I won't really include that here, the way I see it Anko loves to tease people. I don't think that she would be the type to try and hook up with a different guy or gal on a weekly basis. Don't worry though, she's still going to be her own brand of crazy. Oh yeah, she also happens to be the Team Leader for what would have been Team Ebisu. I have nothing against Ebisu, but this provides me with something I can have a lot of fun with.**

**Who is the Kyuubi talking to in Naruto's mindscape? I think some of you might make some close guesses, maybe even correct ones, but I guarantee none of you will understand why I included that or what it means. **

**Fūinjutsu: Keijijou Goudoukaigou (Sealing Techniques: Metaphysical Joint Meeting): Another type of seal. Arashi placed a paper with this seal on Naruto. The seal is made to be most effective when placed above the heart. When activated it serves as a bridge between the mind of the user, and whoever the seal is placed. In other words, Arashi met with the Kyuubi inside Naruto. I'll reveal what happened there at a later time. **

**Shinzui Kage Bunshin no Jutsu (Life Blood Shadow Clone Jutsu): This won't be the first time you guys see one of these. Arashi modified _a _lot of jutsus so that he could stay ahead of his enemies. This one is one of the worst. The longer one of these clones exist, the more of his life Arashi loses. If these clones dispel while in combat, any injuries sustained are transmitted back to Arashi as intense pain. I'm tempted to have one of these clones killed by _something _that hit below the belt just for fun, cause I'm evil like that. Although considering whats happening to his body, he won't really care about that. **

**Shuushuku: I think Orochimarut stole the snake contract, but for this story I'm making it so that Anko actually signed it herself. Shuushuku is her her own summon, and if you couldn't tell he is a very large non-venomous snake. When he makes his apperance he'll be the exact opposite of Manda, Orochimaru's summon, and in this fic happens to be Manda's only surviving son. They despise eachother. He'll treat Anko very much like how Jiraiya and Gamabunta act. Ex: Anko does something dumb and Shuushuku will scold her for being reckless. **

**Update next week guys and some gals. Oh yeah, I only got four reviews for the last chapter. That really put a rain cloud over my head. *Hint Hint***

**Spartan Commando out.**


	7. Bad Luck Follows Everyone

A Space-Time Ninjutsu Mess

_**Chapter Seven: Naruto tries to survive a very pissed off Ino and gets a visitor. Arashi pays a visit to a Namikaze safe house miles from Konoha while his clone tries to explain their situation to two Sannin. The Clone makes a mess and has to spend some time in hiding with Jiraiya. I end this with a bit of a preview for what's happening next chapter. **_

**Special Thanks to DragonKnightRyu for being this story's beta reader.**

Disclaimer: I do not in any way shape or form own Naruto Shippuden, or anything unique to it. The show and manga are owned by Kishimoto-Massashi. I think I do own Namikaze Naruto though, or at least the one in this fiction since as of yet Naruto hasn't changed his name in the manga, and also Anko's snake summon. I do not own Uchiha Itari, both the name and her appearance belong to fellow author BigCC. The Fusion Sword belongs to the team who worked one FFVII: Advent Children and, just to be safe, Square Enix. Also, there may be parts of this story where I combine certain things from the English, and Japanese parts of Naruto.

"Normal Speech"

_Normal Thoughts_

'Human Speech' (Inside Mindscape)

'_Human Thought' _(Inside Mindscape)

"_**Bijuu Speech" **_(Outside Mindscape)

**-Bijuu Speech- **(Inside Mindscape)

'_**Bijuu Thought'**_

"**Summons Speech"**(With certain exceptions)

'**Summons Thoughts'**(With certain exceptions)

* * *

><p>Nara Shikamaru, Chunin of Konohagakure and Nara Clan heir, stood outside of hospital room 352 A. The laziest man in the village remained where he was and stared at the door with his hands hanging loosely at his sides. Shikamaru had proven many times that he was gifted with an incredibly high level of intelligence and level headedness. The pine-apple haired Chunin had used both to come to the decision that he would <em>not <em>enter the room at the moment. He had a feeling that if he were to do so that his life would be cut tragically short.

"Stay still!" Shouted a feminine voice before being followed by a shout of fear. Shikamaru sighed before shaking his head. _Ino_, the genius thought silently.

"No!" The voice was masculine and was accompanied by the sound of glass breaking. As that voice reached his ears the lazy Chunin immediately looked at the door wide-eyed. _Naruto? What is he doing-_

"If you don't stay still I swear to Kami-sama I'll kill you!" Shikamaru reflexively winced at the tone in his blonde-haired teammate's voice. It was the tone of voice she used right before either he or Choji found themselves on the ground and in pain. He pitied Naruto at that moment.

"You're trying to kill me right now!" _Yep. That confirms just what's going on in there. Well, at least he's _already _in a hospital. _

"Only because you groped me you bastard!" The Nara Clan heir felt both of his eyebrows rise up in shock and disbelief. What the hell was going on in there?

"I didn't mean to, honest! It's just, you were right on top of me and I just reacted!"

"Reacted? You call pulling me on top of you, and then _groping _my breasts a reaction!"

"They were in the way!" Shikamaru heard a loud scream of vengeful fury before he instinctively ducked his head down. No sooner had he done this when a kunai broke through the small window of the door and passed the area where his head had just been. _Naruto, what did you do? Getting Ino to calm down when she's like _that_ is going to be such a drag. And I'm the only one here who can do it! _

It wasn't the first time a former member of Team Ten had been called down to the hospital. Occasionally someone would say or do something that would push his friend off the deep end and start something truly frightening, and only one the Yamanaka's friends or parents could prevent her from killing some poor soul. In this case it was one of Shikamaru's older friends from the Ninja Academy, Uzumaki Naruto; who just so happened to be uninformed about what not to say or do in the presence of the blond Kunoichi.

"WHAT!"

"You were practically pressing them up against _me_!" _Oh man, that is so not good! _

The Chunin quickly forced the door open in time to see Naruto just barely dodge a chakra-enhanced roundhouse kick from Ino. The blonde-haired village prankster quickly made his way to the other side of his hospital room, trying to put as much distance between him and his fellow blonde. Spinning around to face him Ino growled before reaching into the single pouch she had on her. The Kunoichi pulled out a trio of senbon needles before moving to launch them at the hospital-gown clad Naruto.

Knowing Ino's preference of poison-tipped senbon, Shikamaru quickly made the Rat hand seal. Molding his chakra Shikamaru called out, "Kagemane no Jutsu (Shadow Possession Jutsu)!" His shadow extended outward before splitting in two and going for the two blondes. The lazy Chunin mentally patted himself on the back when the jutsu caught them just before Ino had thrown her senbon. Naruto, who had closed his eyes when he saw the needles, opened them halfway and saw that both he had Ino were unable to move. It was then that he finally realized that Shikamaru had entered the room for the first time.

Moving his eyes to look in the direction of his friend, the Uzumaki smiled. At the same time his female counterpart was busy glaring daggers at her flak jacket wearing teammate. Shikamaru slowly brought both of his hands down and slid them into his pockets before opening his mouth, "Okay. Slowly, and clearly, would one of you troublesome blondes please tell me what is going on?" Immediately the two opened their mouths at once and began to speak a mile a minute. The Nara brought a single hand up to silence the barrage of explanations, an action the other two were forced to do as well. As the silence returned he decided to try a different approach, "Okay, I probably could have said that better. This time I want Ino, and _only_ Ino, to start talking."

An emerald-green eye looked at the prankster on the other side of the room before narrowing, "A while ago Naruto and the others got back to the village while I was here in the hospital. The baka over there," Naruto looked ready to fire off a retort before he caught Shikamaru's own stare, "Was in some kind of coma. Tsunade-sama called my dad in to see if there was any way to wake him up. After a few hours of nothing my dad left to take a break and asked me to stay in the room incase he woke up. I was changing the plants in the room because it was so _plain _and ordinary when he woke up. And then he grabbed my arm, pulled me on to the bed with him, and groped me like the pervert he is!"

Naruto decided that he had kept silent long enough, "Oi! I wasn't thinking straight when I woke up! And it's not like you didn't like it."

To the great surprise of the Nara heir a Genjutsu of a fire appeared behind her visible eye, the same kind that appeared in the eyes of Gai and Lee. Although something told the Chunin that if either man saw it they would say that it had nothing to do with the 'Flames of Youth' at all, "What did you say?"

_Oh man, this is bad. C'mon Naruto, show that you have some sense in that head of yours and be quiet! _Unfortunately the Uzumaki seemed not to have been aware of Shikamaru's silent pleading, "You closed your eyes and moaned! And if I've learned anything from Ero-Sennin, it's that girls only do that if they like something!" Ino growled in the back of her throat before she tried to break free of the Shadow Possession. Shikamaru widened his eyes in shock when he felt his hold over the Yamanak weaken.

Bringing his hands back up to form the Rat hand seal once again he began to strengthen his jutsu. While he focused more on his teammate the Nara purposely loosened his hold on Naruto, who quickly began relieving the slight stiffness in his body. Turning to look at the spiky-haired blonde he said in a deadpanned voice, "Naruto. Run. Now."

Naruto blinked twice before looking from the red-faced Ino to the straining face of Shikamaru. The blonde Genin didn't need more than an instant to realize what was happening. Shooting a grateful look at the shadow-user Naruto quickly ran out the door. Ino cried out in anger as the teen made his escape, "Shika if you don't let me go right now I'll make sure that tomorrow you won't even remember how to get dressed in the morning!"

The Nara Clan heir gulped before refocusing on his jutsu. _Naruto you owe me for this. What a drag this all is. _

Naruto ran down the halls of the hospital with the sole thought of finding somewhere to hide until Shikamaru managed to convince Ino not to murder him. Already the Genin was halfway to the top of the hospital and there was no sign of pursuit. He soon came to a sudden halt however as he realized two very important things. The first was that he had nothing on but the hospital gown. The second was that he was an idiot for running when he could just open a window and walk down the side of the hospital. After palming his face and muttering under his breath Naruto's head darted left and right.

_Damn it_, he mentally groaned. There weren't any windows on either side of the hallway, just a bunch of rooms. His electric-blue eyes were soon locked on the nearest door to his right. He knew from experience that most hospital rooms had at least one decent sized window. The few times he had been in the hospital before he had tried to escape by using them, and he knew that the windows were usually left unlocked. If there was anyone in whatever room he decided to use then he was reasonably certain they wouldn't mind at all.

The only question was whether or not he could manage to stick to the walls. He still felt slightly disorientated which was unusual; under normal circumstances he would have felt good as new. Then again it might have had something to do with the Kyubi sealed within him. The Fox hadn't been overly criticizing during their last meeting, if anything it seemed uncaring. Maybe it had decided to let him get back to normal on his own as some kind of twisted lesson. Naruto narrowed his eyes; that would be something the demon would do after all. Regardless, the point was that he wasn't a hundred percent certain that he wouldn't just fall down to the ground if he tried walking up the building.

_So…It's either risk Ino catching up to me, or chance falling down the side of a hospital. On the one hand, Ino wants to kill me. On the other, the fall could break a lot of bones in my body. But didn't Sakura-chan say that Ino had some lessons from Baa-chan? _The image of a broken and bleeding Jiraiya with an annoyed Tsunade standing over him came to mind, followed by one of him and Ino in their positions respectively. A shiver went up the blonde's spine at the possibility, "Walking up the side of a wall where a fall could end with all the bones in my body broken it is."

Naruto walked to the nearest room close to him and reached to open the door. Turning the knob the door swung open seamlessly and he walked in. Turning around he stuck his head out to check if Ino had managed to catch up at all. To his relief there was no sign at all of the green-eyed blonde in sight. That was when he heard someone cough from inside the room, "Naruto? What are you doing in my room?"

Hearing the familiar voice Naruto slowly turned around to look. Sure enough the sight of a silver-haired, one-eyed, Jonin greeted him. He smiled nervously at his Jonin sensei before a hand went up to rub the back of his head, "Hi Kakashi-sensei! Uh, this might sound weird but, can I use your window?"

The lone eye stared curiously back at him for a moment before curving upwards. Taking the familiar eye-smile as a yes Naruto quickly thanked the Hatake before moving. He was almost halfway to the window before he noticed that the room had three occupants at the moment. It was the smell of non-hospital food that got him to actually look in the direction of his former teacher's bed. Light-brown pupil-less eyes, violet spiky-ponytail, an overcoat, orange miniskirt, and a mesh body suit ending at her thighs; Mitarashi Anko.

A stick of dango was halfway to the woman's mouth when she realized that Naruto was staring. She blinked once before giving him a single wave of the hand, "Long time no see brat." The woman soon returned her attention to the meal in her other hand. Naruto shrugged and turned to open the window when he did a double take.

Eyes widening and his mouth opening and closing rapidly, the blonde weakly raised an arm and pointed at her. Kakashi, noticing the state of his student, looked curiously between Naruto and Anko, "Am I missing something here?"

Naruto immediately regained control of himself and looked at the man before asking dumbly, "Kakashi-sensei, why is the crazy Snake Lady in your room eating dango?"

"Anko? I think it would be pretty obvious for you to see Naruto, even with your legendary denseness. Everyone gets hungry sooner or later, and she has an obsession with dumplings."

It took all the self-control he had learned during his training for Naruto to keep himself from dropping face first to the floor. With a noticeable twitch in his left eye the Uzumaki shot his sensei a dry look, "No Kakashi-sensei, I mean what is she doing in your room?"

The Hatake blinked innocently at his loudmouthed student's words. Mentally he decided to play around with the blonde's limited patience a bit more. The longer he stretched these games out the more enjoyable the reactions he could get. Putting on his eye-smile once again Kakashi continued to play with the teen, "The hospital does provide every patients room with a very comfortable chair Naruto. I assume she got tired of standing up and decided to take a seat and enjoy the nice chair."

Konoha's Snake Mistress quickly caught on to the hidden game playing out right in front of her. Hatake Kakashi sure was fond of the whole 'underneath the underneath' thing. Smirking she decided to join her boyfriend in messing around with the blonde-haired Genin with her own brand of teasing, "Its perfect for relaxing for just a few minutes. Of course, you wouldn't know anything about that would you?"

This time Naruto turned to respond to Anko, "What are you talking about; I totally know how to relax!"

The woman had on a look of mock shock, "Really? I just assumed that since you can't seem to stay still for more than a few seconds."

"I think I once saw him go a whole five minutes doing anything during our mission to Nami no Kuni," Kakashi quipped from his stationary position while mentally laughing at the look of indignation on Naruto's face.

"Kakashi-sensei!" The Uzumaki whined pitifully with a slightly hurt expression on his face. It quickly disappeared in time for him to scrunch up his face in annoyance, "Why are you two picking on me at the same time?"

Anko rolled her eyes while Kakashi's eye-smile still remained firmly in place, "Naruto, we are not picking on you. It's just that I'm more afraid of _her _reactions than I am of yours."

"Um, what?"

"Don't worry; not understanding something doesn't mean it's impossible to understand."

Naruto was tempted to give into the appealing urge of pulling at his blonde-hair. Why couldn't they just tell him what he wanted to know? Sure they were all ninja, and the oldest of them was so secretive he kept a mask _under _a mask, and the woman was certifiably insane, and…The blonde was certain that if he had said any of what he was thinking out loud he would have felt very foolish. With a low groan the teen felt his shoulders slump; they could keep whatever they didn't want him to know between themselves. "Never mind, I don't really need to know what Snake Lady's doing here. It's not like your dating or anything right?"

…Awkward silence.

…More silence accompanied by the sounds of shifting bedspreads and whistling.

…No way. There was no chance at all right? Hesitantly Naruto opened his mouth to ask, "Kakashi-sensei? Crazy Snake Lady?"

Anko stopped whistling and turned to look at Kakashi, "Can I kill him to keep it secret?"

To Naruto's growing sense of horror the masked Jonin seemed to consider it. To his immense relief the man shook his head in a 'no' answer.

That relief quickly disappeared with the next spoken words, "No. But you can if people start hearing about it before we tell everyone ourselves." The Tokubetsu Jonin childishly made a show of stomping her foot and pouting in disappointment.

A second later three eyes moved to stare directly at Naruto. The teenage Jinchuriki reacted by bringing his hands up to try and ward off any attempts at bodily harm and looked fearfully back at Anko, "Don't worry! I swear I won't say a word, honest!"

Seemingly satisfied with the statement Kakashi eye-smiled once again, "All right. We'll hold you to it Naruto. Now, go away."

Sighing in relief the blonde did just that and walked right out of the room, carefully closing the door behind. Kakashi moved his up from the bed and held up three fingers before counting down. With one finger left Naruto quickly opened the door and moved his head into the room with a wide smile, "By the way, if you buy me some ramen Kakashi-sensei you won't need to keep your secret by scaring me."

Dejectedly the Hatake let his arm drop, "No more than five bowls Naruto. _And _you have to bring me something to eat next time you drop by."

"But you already have a girlfriend who brought food!"

"Correction; I have a girlfriend who I think loves dango more than me, and _didn't _bring food for me." The blonde nodded his head in satisfaction before complying. He felt a pair of eyes turn their focus on him as soon as Naruto had left. Curiously, he moved his head to look in the direction of the younger woman.

Anko had crossed both arms over her chest, he silently bemoaned that, and looked just a tad insulted. She had a slight grin to her face and he could see that familiar mischievous gleam, "That's not true Kakashi. You're a little bit more important than my dango…But just a little."

The Hatake was torn between feeling glad or annoyed that he was only _a little _more highly rated than dumplings.

Outside the room Naruto was halfway down the hallway when he stopped. He cried out in exasperation when he realized that he had forgotten to take the window out of the room as per his plan. He was lowly chewing himself out for forgetting to do so when he picked up on a noticeable amount of nearby Killing Intent. Stiffing immediately the Uzumaki slowly turned his head to look down the other end of the hallway.

He whimpered in fear.

Ino however, dragging a babbling and drooling Shikamaru by his hair behind her, smiled evilly.

(Emergency AN: I would just like to prevent any confusion here. For the record, I did state that when alone Namikaze _Arashi _would be written as Namikaze _Naruto_. He's only Arashi when someone not from his dimension is at the scene. If it's just him, Itari, or Itari's Kisame, then he'll be refereed to as Naruto. His Blood Shadow Clones are always Arashi though. Savvy? )

* * *

><p>Namikaze Naruto stood in the center of a large open field. Just half a mile away from the field he could see a large and bustling Hi no Kuni port city harbour. The Namikaze could also hear the gentle and relaxing sound of waves slamming up against rocks, and felt a light breeze pass over him. His trained eyes identified more than two dozen familiar shipping companies and more than three that he was certain did not exist in his world. Naruto closed his eyes and took in a deep breath of air.<p>

It was _exactly _the same as in his world. The smell of the ocean mixed with that of civilization.

Opening his eyes he smiled at the busy harbor, and enjoyed the moment. Now that he was alone he could stop using an alias. Boats and ships of all sizes, along with their crews and dockhands, jockeying for a chance to enter or leave with empty or fully loaded cargo holds. The sight brought back fond memories of his childhood. Times when his family would be able to go outside the walls of Konohagakure and be normal; well as normal as a Kage and his family could be anyway considering that they always had an ANBU guard detail accompanying them.

He looked around the field for the fifth time with a quarter hour. The only difference was that there was no house within the field at all. His family had always had house situated near the port city of Zousenjo even after the deaths of his parents. The home wasn't overly expensive, nor did it flaunt the Namikaze's immense wealth. It was… homely and average. The perfect setting for a family to remember not to let their status go to their heads; he'd met many a member of one of Konoha's clans who let their family name define their very lives. His family's vacation home was also the place where, he had been too young to understand the meaning at the time, he was 'made' according to his mother.

Naruto failed to suppress the shiver that traveled up along his spine.

_All right, time to stop thinking about my parents and their sexual interaction that led to my birth. Ugh. If ever there were words that should never be in the same sentence, they would be 'parents' and 'sexual' all the way. Hell, who actually _wants _to anywhere near the spot they were conceived?_

The Namikaze closed his eyes and once more inhaled the air surrounding him. He used it as a focal point to put his mind back on track. Naruto had not come to this place so that he could remember much better times, no matter how much he missed them. He had made the decision to visit this place because of what else was left hidden there. Something that he hoped his family in this world as well as his own had in common.

The sign he had found thus far would point one towards that conclusion. There was no natural reason for a field this close to a large source of water to be virtually devoid of all plant life; the only thing that grew in the field was grass. The Namikaze could also make out faint markings etched into several well sized rocks, their symbols worn away long ago. In addition to these he had also found something which he now held in the palms of both hands; one of his father's tri-pronged kunai.

The blade of the Yondaime Hokage had long since become virtually worthless based on his up close observations. For starters the ring at the end of the blade was missing. Directly next were the wrappings around the handles, of which only a few torn bits remained. The steel which should have been devoid of many signs of use was riddled with scratches and chipped away fragments. Rust clung to nearly every visible part of the weapon, a clear sign of just how long it had lain there in the dirt forgotten.

Tossing it up in the air Arashi held out his left index finger. His father's rusty weapon spun in the air a pitiful three times before falling back downwards. Disgusted by the amount of flaws he was finding in the blade Naruto channeled a minute amount of chakra into his index finger coating the appendage in a light blue, almost purple, glow. The tri-pronged kunai did manage, much to his surprise, to land blade down on the digit. The Namikaze brought up his right hand and grasped at the handle of the weapon. Lifting it up just an inch he ceased the flow of chakra to his finger and swiftly jabbed downwards with the weapon.

_How…Refreshing,_ he thought while watching a steady flow of red blood pour out from the surprisingly deep cut. To his great shock he had nearly sliced off a chunk of his finger with the jab. The pain was relatively minor and he pained no attention to it. Instead the Namikaze flipped the kunai so that its blade was pointed at his face. He watched his own blood flow down the rusty blade and fall to the ground beneath him. He continued to do so until he smiled widely.

Then he started to chuckle.

"Wow dad," Naruto said while he continued to chuckle, "You're cheap even in another dimension!"

It was a well known fact that the great Namikaze Minato, the Yondaime Hokage and his father, was a closet miser. The man was very much a zealot when it came to saving money. His father was very careful in finding the perfect metal for his custom made kunai that was cheap, easy to maintain, and durable. Still he disliked having to use more than one at time however. According to the man constant use of the kunai would lead to its sharp edge wearing down, tears to form in the steel, and for the once beautiful weapons to become rusted. 'And that's,' his fathers own words, 'a real waste.'

That was why he only spent larger amounts of ryo on a rare alloy used in constructing the three tips of the kunai. Naruto also had a small suspicion that the man was lying about that part. No matter what he did, no matter what he used, none of the Hiraishin kunai he made after leaving the village was ever as sharp or long lasting as his father's own. Nevertheless the fact was that only the three tips of the kunai were in good condition while the rest was…Well, _crap_.

Soon the spiky-haired blonde man was able to stop chuckling a few moments later. Wiping away at a few tears he had shed seconds earlier his eyes were soon darting around everywhere. The Namikaze heir was looking for one thing specifically as he looked all over the open field. It wasn't long before his keen cobalt-blue eyes found something in the form of a medium sized rock. The stone was very unnoticeable upon first glance; just as it was meant to be. Naruto covered the distance quickly with only a few long strides of his legs. Bending down to get a better view the blonde placed his blood covered left hand, the cut was in the process of healing itself slowly, on the stone. Swiping away at the layer of dirt and grime he was soon looking at a faint etching of the Namikaze Clan symbol; a large wave connecting with a massive wind blast. A quarter of a foot above the seal were three small slits in the stone.

Smirking he looked down at the tri-pronged kunai still in his right hand. Naruto stood up and moved three meters back away from the rock. After coating the kunai in a layer of his wind-chakra and eyeing the three slits for about two seconds more he threw the kunai. The three blade tips of the weapon fully slid up to the handle into the rock. A second after that the rock fell into the earth along with a piece of the surrounding ground. Naruto walked up to the edge to peer down into the newly revealed underground entrance…And then barely managed to twist his body to avoid being skewered by a pair of spikes launching out from the ground. To his annoyance one of the shoulder pads on the borrowed Suna flak jacket had been taken clean off by one of the spikes.

_Damn. Forgot that mom probably left a few surprises behind to mess with dad. _

His mother was a prankster of the highest caliber, but she only ever did something like this for his father. He was the only man whose reflexes were fast enough that there was no chance of him ever being injured; just scared out of his skin. Not even Naruto held a candle when it came to speed and his father. That was the reason why the man only needed a handful of his custom kunai to take out dozens of Iwa Shinobi and Kunoichi in a single hour. The only time he could remember matching his father in a contest of speed was during their infrequent spars after he had made his deal with the Kyubi.

Knowing full well that there were almost certainly more traps waiting for him Naruto sighed before taking the first step. He froze up without warning and felt a familiar tingle in the back of his mind. _Hm…I wonder just what that clone I left in Konoha did just now. With my luck he's probably done something to tick off both the Sannin there. If he weren't me I'd call him an idiot._

* * *

><p>The Shinzui Kage Bunshin sneezed without warning. His sneeze forced him to throw his cup of coffee into the air. That cup of caffeine landed perfectly atop the spiky white haired pervert that was Jiraiya of the Sannin. His sneeze also forced an out of it Slug Princess to snap back to attention and rapidly move to sit straight in her seat. The action caused her ample bosom to jiggle. Jiraiya's eyes caught sight of this and he whipped his head to stare at the them.<p>

That was when the hot coffee filled cup fell off from his head and spilled all over that of the Godaime Hokage.

Tsunade growled.

Jiraiya rushed to the far side of the room in terror.

"Oh shit," Arashi-clone said when he realized that Jiraiya and he were in grave danger. The Arashi clone gulped in worry before quickly grabbing the pen within reach of the Hokage. The clone swiftly wrote down his signature before pushing his seat back and leaving it. Turning to face the other man in the room he jumped out forward to him. Grabbing the man by the shoulders he quickly used a Shunshin and both men vanished in an explosion of water.

They reappeared two blocks South West of the Village Intelligence Division's department building. Taking a step back from the white-haired pervert both men let out long sighs of relief. The Arashi clone and Toad Sage suddenly stiffened as they felt waves of Killing Intent roll over them. "So," Arashi-clone turned to look at Jiraiya who had turned a bit pale, "I have to visit the Gaki and Kakashi at the hospital anyway. Wanna, you know, tag-along?"

Arashi-clone was about to answer when a loud scream of fury reached the pairs ears, followed by something flying out of the roof of the Intelligence building. Tentatively he looked over his shoulder for a moment before turning to look at Jiraiya. "Does she know you want to visit them?" Jiraiya nodded. "She'll head there first. We need to hide out somewhere for a while."

"Kid's apartment."

"Huh?"

"Naruto's apartment. She'd never think to look for us there, and I know where he keeps his spare set of keys."

"Good a place as any."

Jiraiya gripped the shoulder of the clone and they both disappeared in a puff of smoke. Ten minutes later Arashi-clone was looking through Naruto's refrigerator for something to eat. The clone had yet to eat since it had been created and, since it was an exact copy, needed food to survive just like its creator. It soon became apparent however that Naruto needed to really spend some of his pay on a food run, "What the hell is this?"

Flipping the channels on Naruto's television while sitting on the only chair in the apartment Jiraiya turned his head, "What the hell is what?"

The Namikaze clone slammed the fridge shut before walking towards the Super Pervert. The apartment was very small with only three rooms; the living room, the bathroom, and the bedroom. The 'kitchen' was on the far left corner of the living room and there was a balcony on the opposite side. It was a far cry from the mansion that someone of Naruto's lineage deserved to say the least.

Arashi-clone came to a halt beside the Sannin. He was holding a carton of milk curiously in both hands, searching for something. Jiraiya had an idea of just what he was looking for but decided to play dumb as the clone opened his mouth, "This is a carton of milk."

"Yes, I'm not old enough that I can't see boy."

"Ignoring that," Responded the blonde-haired clone. He flipped the milk carton to look at the bottom, "I can't find an expiration date anywhere on this thing."

Feeling particularly mischievous Jiraiya simply waved the man off, "You really think the Gaki would be dumb enough to keep spoiled milk in his refrigerator?"

Arashi-clone gave him a blank look, "Do you really think _I'm_ dumb enough to fall for that?"

"Good point."

"Of course. I made it."

"Arrogant aren't you?"

"I prefer to think of it as me exercising my well deserved confidence to speak the truth as I see it."

"That a yes?"

"Yes."

"Don't drink the milk."

"Poisoned?"

"Wouldn't surprise me."

"This common?"

"No. Kid was only in the village a little while before he had to go on that mission to Suna."

"So?"

"I took him on training trip that lasted two and half years. It isn't hard to figure out."

"…This has been here…"

"Like I said, wouldn't surprise me."

"…" Arashi-clone stared at the milk carton another few seconds before tossing it in the direction of the balcony. The carton sailed over the railing and down to the streets of Konohagakure. "This is disgusting."

Jiraiya sensed that something had changed in the young clone's(young man's?) mood. Turning off the TV he set down the remote before turning to level a serious look at his companion, "You're not talking about the milk are you?"

The clone turned to look in the direction of the white-haired man, "He shouldn't be made to live here."

"And just where do you think he should be living?"

"The Namikaze Clan compound." Arashi-clone said without a hint of hesitance. If Jiraiya hadn't been questioning the man for hours straight he knew that answer would have seemed very left field. As it was it made perfect sense that the clone would say that. "Jiraiya you know that he deserves that place more than I do. He was born here, he's the son of the _this _Konoha's Yondaime. Naruto's does so much for this village and he doesn't even know half the secrets surrounding him!"

The Sannin stood up and towered over the younger man's Blood Clone. His stare was heated and showed that he did not like being spoken to in the way that the clone was doing so, "He doesn't live there, because it was Minato's wish."

"You expect me to believe that my father would want-"

"-Naruto to live a normal life? Look at you. You were hiding things from me and Tsunade, don't think we couldn't tell. You carry yourself like someone who's lost a lot of things, you've had to become a Nuke-Nin to survive. ANBU Black Ops Captain at fifteen? Great job. But how much of yourself did you have to kill to get there? What have you done that gives you nightmares, that you regret?"

The Arashi-clone narrowed cobalt-blue eyes at the older man and his hands turned into fists.

Jiraiya continued on knowing that he wouldn't be interrupted, "You're from another dimension. You're the son of a Kage. Look where your life is at now? What has knowing just _who _you are gotten you? Naruto's been treated poorly, and that's as much my fault for not being there as it is the stupidity of the villagers. But look at what he has right now, what he's done. He mastered the Rasengan in just over a single week, learned Kage Bunshin overnight, fought off another Jinchuriki who had given control of his body to his Biju and _won_! He wants to bring a Shinobi back who put a Chidori through his chest three years ago, and considers him to still be his best friend."

Jiraiya watched as the clone's eyes briefly flashed a demonic red. The Sannin blinked in surprise at that; it was just like Naruto when he was using some of the Kyubi's chakra. Could that mean that he was also a Jinchuriki? The Toad Sage was so caught up in the sight that he barely noticed that the clone was speaking, "Don't pretend Jiraiya. You. Don't. Know. _Us! _Everything you just said means nothing to me! If anything, they just mean that Naruto could have done a hell of a lot better knowing who he was and you know it!"

The Sannin narrowed his eyes, "How do you know him better than someone who spent years teaching him?"

"Maybe I don't." The Clone closed the distance between them in an instant. "But I know as much as someone who abandons the son of his prized pupil for thirteen years."

"…I am going to enjoy tossing you around tomorrow."

"And I'll enjoy making you wish we're allowed to kill."

The two men glared daggers at one another as the conversation died down. The silence was broken when they both heard a light knock on the door, "Jiraiya-sama?"

It was the Sannin in question who broke their staring contest first to turn at the door, "Shizune?"

"Tsunade-sama is going to debrief Kakashi now…She's cooled down and wants you to be there."

"All right. Just give me," Here he turned to look back at the clone. Or rather the empty air where the clone had been seconds earlier. "Actually lets just go."

* * *

><p><em><strong>AN: I'll start off this notice with an 'I'm sorry.' I would have updated this earlier but I recently signed up for Gamefly's services. I've been distracted with Assassins Creed Brotherhood and Crysis 2 these last few days. <strong>_

_**Anyway. In case you couldn't tell by the last few paragraphs the next chapter is going to be a fight between Jiraiya and the Arashi clone. I'll let you draw your own reasons for why this is happening. I will tell you all though that you're going to find out just what Namikaze did inside his mindscape back in Chapter Three. Specifically what he did regarding those seals. The point is that I'll hopefully get that chap out earlier than I did this one, hopefully by the weekend. **_

_**With luck this will be my only delay for the summer. How are your summers going by the way? Back on track, bad ADD. Did this chapter come off as I dunno… Rushed? I don't like this chapter all that much, its giving me a bad feeling. Anyway glad to see the previous chapter got me ten reviews. Much better than the four I had for number five. **_

_**You think I made Ino a bit OOC at the start? I'm certain I got Shikamaru just about right but not so much for her. Also the bit where Naruto runs into Kakashi's hospital room. Strangely that part was the one I liked most from this. How do you guys feel about it? **_

_**I'm feeling really proud about this story. Its been out a little over three and a half months and I'm probably gonna break 100 reviews before the next three updates hit. Its all thanks to you guys. To this anonymous review left on 6/16, yes Kakashi is fully aware of just who Naruto's parents are. **_

_**Here is hoping for twelve more reviews. Oh, and to whoever catches the reference to a game I included in this chapter, copy and paste the line you think its in and PM me it. If you're right I'll pay you with a bit of info regarding what I'm going to have happen later on in this story. But this only applies to the first person who gets it. **_

_**-SpartanCommando**_


	8. Shocking, Isn't It All?

A Space-Time Ninjutsu Mess

_**Chapter Eight: The Namikaze Heir explores his new safe house while at the same time his clone speaks to Uzumaki Naruto. Naruto himself barely survives Ino's revenge and has to spend another full day in the hospital. The clone also prepares itself for a duel against Jiraiya of the Sannin for the right to remain in the village, and legally take over the Namikaze Clan. It all finishes with a revelation of what the Namikaze did in Chapter Three. **_

**Special Thanks to DragonKnightRyu for being this story's beta reader.**

Disclaimer: I do not in any way shape or form own Naruto Shippuden, or anything unique to it. The show and manga are owned by Kishimoto-Massashi. I think I do own Namikaze Naruto though, or at least the one in this fiction since as of yet Naruto hasn't changed his name in the manga, and also Anko's snake summon. I do not own Uchiha Itari, both the name and her appearance belong to fellow author BigCC. The Fusion Sword belongs to the team who worked one FFVII: Advent Children and, just to be safe, Square Enix. Also, there may be parts of this story where I combine certain things from the English, and Japanese parts of Naruto.

"Normal Speech"

_Normal Thoughts_

'Human Speech' (Inside Mindscape)

'_Human Thought' _(Inside Mindscape)

"_**Bijuu Speech" **_(Outside Mindscape)

**-Bijuu Speech- **(Inside Mindscape)

'_**Bijuu Thought'**_

"**Summons Speech"**(With certain exceptions)

'**Summons Thoughts'**(With certain exceptions)

* * *

><p>"Doton: Doryūheki (Earth Release: Earth Style Wall)!" Shouted Namikaze Naruto as he continued to slide down against a wall, a trio of fireballs fast approaching. The wall of earth appeared above his head and soon felt the full force of the fireballs slamming into it at once, one after that the other. It was at that moment that Naruto managed to focus enough chakra to his feet that he was able to stick to the surface of the wall with his feet. Pivoting around he soon ran his hands through another set of hand seals, "Suiton: Suikōdan no Jutsu (Water Release: Water Shark Bullet Technique)!"<p>

Dozens of meters below him, in a large pool of water filled with many sharp pointed rocks, a massive water shark jumped out just as Naruto saw that his hastily erected wall had collapsed with one last fireball still approaching. Cursing under his breath he ceased the flow of chakra to his feet and dug a kunai into the wall before he could fall. Once again he felt air tugging at his clothes as he began to slide down the surface of the wall. Naruto moved his body closer to the surface of the wall as his water shark bypassed him and struck the fireball, creating a large amount of steam.

After slowing down his decent and sticking to the wall once again, Naruto allowed himself to take in gulps of air. He had developed a thin layer of sweat and he was starting to feel tired. The Namikaze heir had spent close to three hours walking, or falling, down tunnels and passage ways that would lead to the real entrance to one of his family's safe houses. Unfortunately he had been slowed down and nearly injured multiple times thanks to his mothers' sense of humor. Naruto was beginning to think that the woman may not have been all right in the head considering the number of traps she had set in place for her husband. He maintained that thought for a full ten seconds while he regained his breath; and then he promptly laughed.

He was one to talk about not being right in the head.

In some odd way however he did enjoy encountering aforementioned traps. He felt closer to his mother when he was busy trying not to be killed by them than he had in years. Namikaze Kushina was the kind of woman for whom it made perfect sense to fell that way about.

Naruto waited another thirty seconds for the last of the steam to dissipate before he looked down the trap he had fallen into. Somehow he was in no way surprised his mother had combined three traps at the same time that would force someone to stand above a trap door and be unaware. There was no shame felt by the Ex-ANBU Captain unsurprisingly; his mother was an ANBU operative before his birth and she was the wife of one of the Gokage. It would be surprising if she _wasn't _capable of making something like that actually work out in the end.

The Namikaze heir peered down and looked over the hundred or so rocks he could visibly see jutting out above the dark and murky water…And saw something breach the surface and breathe out air before looking up at him with a pair of golden brown slitted eyes. It blinked once before diving back down again.

_Kami help me. That was a _Toad! _Were they working together on this or something?_

* * *

><p>The Arashi-clone walked furiously past the hospital entrance. He ignored the odd gasp of surprise from several elderly patients and members of the staff. He did not pay any attention to the half dozen or so young women who seemed to be trying to memorize his features. The Clone ignored all o this in order to make his way up to the receptionist and demand to know where a certain blonde Genin was. When the Arashi-clone received the room number he smiled and politely thanked the thirty-ish year old man.<p>

…Then he punched him in the face hard for saying a very insulting word that began with a 'd' in reference to Uzumaki Naruto.

Thus it was a barely calm Blood Shadow that walked in on a very particular sight happening at the center of one of the hallways. One that made him slightly envious of the Uzumaki that was his creator's, and to an extent his, genetic twin. It was the sight of an attractive woman with a preference for the color purple and blonde hair styled in a pony tail, straddling Naruto at the waist. For some reason or another the woman was trying to land punches on the other blondes face with her right hand, while her left held a senbon needle and was being gripped by Naruto's right hand, who was using his left arm to try and block the punches. To his disappointment the womans face as her back was to him. Idly he noted that it was a rather nice view.

"Let go of my arm so I can stick this in you!"

"No! Ino, just stop already! I said I was sorry like a hundred times!"

"No dad. I'll go feed the baby deer now, just don't make me wake up mom."

The clone blinked as he heard three voices but only saw two in the hallway. Curiously he looked around and saw what appeared to be a Nara curled up into a fetal position and pressed up against a medical cart. While he wanted to know what had happened as soon as possible the clone decided to have some fun, "Naruto!"

The pair of blondes stopped their actions in unison, although the Nara continued to mumble. When they both turned to look in the direction of the new voice he finally got the chance to see the face of the woman. Her features seemed very familiar very much like the man who he had seen earlier go to the hospital to check up on Naruto; Yamanaka Inoichi, the clone believed the mans' name was. He also noticed that she had vibrant emerald-green eyes instead of the blue of the other blondes he had met lately. Her face was contorted with a look of annoyance mixed in with a fair bit of anger, though it was impossible for the clone to clearly discern whether it was directed at Naruto or at him.

The clone turned lock eyes with the pair of electric-blue staring at him with a look of surprise and some trace amount of worry. The Arashi-clone knew that the worry was not for the young teen at all, but rather for the young woman who had yet to get off him. Interesting. While he was inwardly drawing up a list of possible reasons for why Naruto was worrying about someone beating him him, the clone outwardly took a look of mock seriousness. He kept a straight face as he opened his mouth to speak to the male of the two teens, "Naruto what is the meaning of this."

"She's trying to kill me!" The teen in question replied quickly, hoping that his reply would send the oldest of the three blondes away.

That was hope misplaced as the Arashi-clone put his hands on his hips and stared, "No. I mean why is it you're fighting her? What kind of man fights a woman when she's on top of him?" Suddenly the man dropped his mask of seriousness and revealed a face full of mischief, "Or maybe, maybe _you _want to be on top of her? Yes that's probably it."

It took a moment for the two to register both the words and the meaning behind them. Both developed rather bright and honest blushes on their cheeks. To a man like Arashi though he could see that there was obviously some amount of attraction simmering between the two teens. Their reaction was to be expected, and he was already channeling a thin layer of chakra over his hands to cover both ears.

"NANI!"

"Let me get this straight, you're the son of the Yondaime Hokage?"

"That is correct Yamanaka-hime."

"W-wh-what?"

"The part about you being correct or the -hime part?"

"…Never mind."

"Can you just leave us alone?"

"What is this? The clan-less Fishcake wants to be left alone with a beautiful mind reader? I didn't know you had it in you!"

"Shut up!"

The Arashi-clone chuckled at the childish retort from Naruto before bonking the teen's head, "Where is the fun in that?"

Still wearing the standard issue hospital gown Naruto crossed his arms and muttered under his breath. He had been dragged back to his room by a determined Arashi who decided that Ino had hurt him enough that he would need a full night to recover from it. Not taking any chances the clone had taken to lean against the wall directly next to Naruto and kept the Yamanaka heir in his line of sight. He seriously doubted she would kill him, there was the fact that she seemed to like him at least a little to remember, but there was also her being a medic to consider. No medic would dare kill any fellow Konoha ninja. That meant nothing about her using some kind of poison to give the teen some kind of bathroom related problems.

The clone remembered his father's stories about being a Genin on Jiraiya's team. Specifically how Tsunade had poisoned the then-Jonin level Shinobi's drink and forced him to be within a ten-second distance of a bathroom during all parts of the day. That had lasted for a week, according to his father.

Ino meanwhile chuckled at the brief exchange between her fellow blondes. She found it hard to believe that with the way the two were acting it was the man named Arashi who had put her classmate in the hospital. If anything the way the blonde man was treating Naruto now was reminiscent of how certain members of her family generally acted; mainly siblings, though being an only child Ino couldn't quite be sure. None the less, behind all the jokes he directed towards Naruto the stance that Arashi was taking indicated that the man wanted to protect the younger blonde teen.

"See?" Arashi continued as he turned his head to face Naruto while pointing a finger at Ino. "Even the Yamanaka princess over there thinks what I'm doing to you is fun. Face it, you just can't win."

"Ino!"

"Sorry Naruto, but-HEY! I'm not apologizing to you! I'm still ticked about earlier." Hearing that Naruto unconsciously turned his gaze on the rooms' only non-blonde occupant. Shikamaru was laid out on back on the hospital room's floor, the lazy Chunin's eyes closed and his unmoving body save for the rise and fall of his chest. Naruto felt bad for leaving his friend behind to face Ino all alone close to two hours earlier. The Nara heir looked so…Well…Actually, now that the blue eyed boy thought about it, he looked like he usually did. But still, it was just _what _Ino did to him that made the Uzumaki wary of bringing back an angry Yamanaka Ino.

Let it never be said that he was dense enough not to notice something that would mean certain death.

Suddenly the blonde teenage male's thoughts were cut off when he felt a hand grip his left shoulder. Knowing full well who the hand belonged to Naruto tensed up before tilting his head to look up at the son of his idol. Cobalt-blue eyes stared down at him, "I know that look very well. What ever it is you're thinking, do it. Trust me. You'll save yourself a lot of pain dealt by the fairer sex if you know what to say and, I think this is more important, what _not _to say."

Naruto continued to stare back at the man surprised. How had Arashi, well the clone of Arashi, known what he was thinking? He was saved from asking the question himself when Ino took it upon herself to do so, "How do you know what Naruto was thinking?"

Surprisingly the two blonde teens saw the man give them a bittersweet smile before responding, "I know what it's like to make a Kunoichi angry, and then have to fight just to survive the aftermath of doing so."

Ino, sensing that there was a story behind the words, continued with another question, "And just who did you get angry enough that she wanted you dead?"

"My fiancé believe it or not."

It was no surprise at all to say that the Yamanaka and Uzumaki were both surprised to hear that. Ino because she was surprised that someone as young as him was engaged, and Naruto because someone would actually _accept _becoming the Namikaze's fiancé. The bright-blonde haired youth made his thoughts well known, "There was some girl who willing decided she was going to marry you? I don't believe it." A senbon needle appeared sticking out of his pillow a split second later. One trace of Killing Intent later and he knew that Ino wanted him quiet.

The Namikaze smiled at the pale-blonde haired young woman before nodding his head in thanks, "Spot on Yamanaka-san, I appreciate you silencing this loudmouthed dolt."

"Hey! I'm right here you know!"

"Of course. If you weren't I would have only been thinking it and not taking the effort to actually say something. Don't worry though Fishcake, any chance I get to insult you is well worth the effort needed."

"AH!"

"NARUTO! STAY ON THAT BED!"

"Well then. Fun as this has been, and it really has been, I think its time I leave for now."

Ino, who at that moment was about to tie Naruto to his bed, looked up at the older blonde's seemingly random statement. Her visible green eye showed the curiosity she was unable to keep a lid on. Maybe it was the fact that she enjoyed the bit of gossip here and there, or maybe it was the fact that she had an insatiable desire to understand people due to her father being an expert on the human mind, but the Yamanaka Clan heir would not be denied. "Does this have something to do with your fiancé Namikaze-san?"

Arashi raised a single eyebrow in amusement, "Just 'Namikaze-san' now? Why not -sama? I expect to be getting a lot of that when the village becomes aware of whom I am, no matter how distasteful I will find it."

Ino put her right hand on her hip before scoffing, "You're -san because you're not all that important yet. Get important enough and _maybe, _I'll call you -sama. But even then it'll only be because it annoys you."

"…" The Namikaze heir blinked once before a massive grin appeared on his face and he laughed. He then moved to lock eyes with the annoyed scrunched up face of Naruto, "Fishcake I swear, you have better treat this girl with respect. Not that many people talk to me like that, and that's especially rare for people I'm not familiar with."

"Still didn't answer her question." The teen muttered lowly as he glared at the certainly insane Arashi.

The man in question huffed once before nodding his head at the truth in the younger blonde's statement. His head soon turned to face the woman who had asked him first, "My fiancée was a woman named Itari. _Uchiha _Itari believe it or not." Once again the man had the attention of his two fellow blondes. "I'm told that you both knew a member of her clan, and Uchiha Sasuke if I'm not mistaken."

The atmosphere of the room took a sudden turn for the worse as the Namikaze suddenly bowed and disappeared without warning, leaving two shocked Konoha ninja behind.

All alone.

"Troublesome."

…And one shockingly still unconscious and mumbling Nara. Meanwhile, and at the same exact moment, in another hospital room...

"You intend to do what!"

"Geez Kakashi. Yell a little louder so I go death before I'm supposed to why don't you."

In the room of Jonin Hatake Kakashi there were four occupants. Two of whom were Sannin while the others were both former Captains in the ANBU Black Ops. The Sharingan wielding Hatake was at that moment glad that Anko had chosen to leave minutes earlier. Thank Kami for the responsibilities required by a Team Leader because he was in no way ready to explain the nature of his relationship to the former apprentice of Orochimaru while in the presence of Jiraiya. No doubt the man would find a way to turn that into another novel of his and Kakashi was in no way interested in seeing _his _love life turned into an Icha Icha issue.

That was not the reason for the normally nonchalant Jonin's reaction to the spiky white haired Sannin. No, it was something just as bad though. For some reason or another it was shocking to hear the Toad Sage had decided to battle a man who claimed to be the son of his own late sensei. Especially when they had been manipulated into agreeing to something without being fully aware of the man's capabilities. Perhaps the one-eyed Jonin should have made it a point to at least speak to the two Sannin before they left to witness the interrogation of the man.

"Both of you be _silient_," Ground out Tsunade. The Slug Princess was only just barely keeping her cool at that moment. Her words made Jiraiya flinch in response as he knew that his temper mental teammate still hadn't properly had her revenge. In all likelihood that revenge would come very soon after this meeting had fully come to a close. The self proclaimed Super Pervert could only hope that he would still be in good enough shape to fight the Namikaze clone.

The room's fourth occupant coughed lowly to get attention turned to him. The man had rather large eyes and wore his forehead protector in the style of the Second Hokage, and had a new code name for his latest mission. "My apologies Hokage-sama," Yamato began to say. "But I believe that Kakashi-sempai wants to say something regarding this Namikaze Arashi."

"Thank you Yamato." Kakashi said as he massaged his headband less forehead, "How do I explain this?"

Jiraiya was the one who asked the obvious question, "Explain what Kakashi?"

"Remember how you said you were nearly killed when Naruto went into his Four Tails state?"

"Yeah."

"Arashi fought it and came out unscathed. And he also placed a seal on Naruto that was similar to the one you gave me just incase the boy was in danger of losing himself to the Fox."

"…Well…That's interesting. Any reason why you failed to tell anyone of us that?" Kakashi stared before moving his hands to point at the hospital food he was being forced to eat. "Oh. Yeah, the hospital. Why do I get the feeling I might be spending a bit of time here tomorrow?"

Tsunade rolled her eyes before heading for the door, "I'm late for a meeting with the Council. I'm going to have to explain how one of the villages top ninja is about to have a duel with a man who's father was a Hokage, _and _make sure that no betting pools get started."

Jiraiya blinked in surprise when the woman mentioned gambling, "You're not going to be in on any gambling?"

"Why bother? If I bet on him you'll probably win. And if you win you'll be insufferable and try and use that win to seduce me. If I bet on you and he wins, I still lose money and have to deal with a sad Sannin trying to convince me to loan him my sake so he can drown out the loss with alcohol. I lose either way."

"…Tsunade." Said a depressed Jiraiya as he sat down in a corner with a rain cloud hanging over his head. Kakashi and Yamato merely stared as one Konoha's most powerful ninja whined about how little faith the Hokage had in him. The silver haired Jonin sighed before laying his head down on the fairly comfortable pillow and stared up at the ceiling.

_I liked it better when it was just Anko and her craziness in here. Much less…Disturbing. Yes, I'll take crazy, sexy, and dango obsessed over old, disturbing, and _male_ any day._

* * *

><p>It was a hungry Arashi-clone that walked the afternoon streets of Konohagakure. The man had spent close to seven years of his life away from the village and it had only take under a week of appearing in this world to return. There was a definite feeling of…Nostalgia was perhaps the best word to describe what he was feeling. Despite that he couldn't help but feel even more far from his missed home. There was so very much missing from this village that was in his own true Konoha.<p>

The young man had only been walking for half an hour and already he had come across seven Shinobi and Kunoichi alive that were dead and buried in his world. That was very nerve wracking, but not so much as what he had seen when he had gone to check the memorial stone. There seemed to be a large number of people dead in this world that he knew were alive in his own. Most notably being the Sandaime Hokage, as well as the rest of his fathers Genin team. Seeing the name of Inuzuka Rin, a woman he considered an older sister, was especially heart wrenching.

In spite of that he had put the pain away. If there was one thing ANBU had taught him it was how to lock away the pain so that it could be released at a later time. So he had left the stone and decided that he would spend the remainder of the day avoiding a potentially still angry Hokage by exploring certain parts of the village he had rarely moved through in his own world. The clone had very surprised to hear that there had been an invasion of ninja from Sunagakure and a new village called Otogakure. He smiled wickedly when he thought of just _who _was leading that village.

The Namikaze name would once again be feared by enemies of Konoha. He promised himself that Orochimaru would suffer greatly for what he had done both to him in his world, and to the people of this one. Without warning the clone gasped lowly and he barely managed to refrain from clutching his heart as a sharp pain was felt throughout his body. Gritting his teeth the bright blonde haired man continued walking through in between the crowds.

Three years spent in ANBU Black Ops meant that he was well aware of the policy towards unknown entities within the village. If the security in this Konoha was anything similar than that of his own then there should be no less than a full four-man squad of ANBU trailing him from the rooftops of the village. In addition to them he could expect as much as two full squads mixed in with the crows of the streets alongside him. He already knew the identity of at least one of them; Uzuki Yugao and her purple hair were unmistakable. He could swear that woman seemed to have been born to be in ANBU. With all that following him, taking note of everything he did or anywhere he went, it would do him no good to allow any weakness to be shown before he could fight Jiraiya.

So…He bit any grunts of pain back and kept pushing forward. The pain was just something else he had to remind him of being one of Orochimaru's experiments. Something to make sure he never forgot what was the cost to make sure he had lived. The reason why he was alive and alone.

Why his father had been killed.

Eventually, like it had so many times since his escape years earlier, the pain abated and he did not need to worry about showing weakness. The Namikaze clone felt ill though, and lightheaded. He could see the world around him blur for short moments until he closed his eyes and breathed in and out in a non rushed way. Arashi-clone felt hungry and unnervingly vulnerable. That had only begun to happen recently. As in the last few days. And only after Madara's attempt to remove the Kyubi from him was halted midway.

…That did not bode well for him.

He passed a food stand and inhaled the smell around it. The clone smiled as he registered that what he was smelling was his favorite guilty pleasure. Well, next to certain things he supposed as an image of a naked Uchiha's back popped up in his mind. Perhaps he could indulge in a meal of his favorite food to take his mind away from the more grim thoughts currently running through his messed up head. He turned around and looked up at the name of the stand;_ Ramen Ichiraku, eh? Why does that sound familiar?_

With a shrug the clone walked towards the stand. Perhaps he could even convince Yugao to join him. Ramen always tasted better with a beautiful woman next to him, and unless he was mistaken the purple haired ANBU was hopefully single. He knew for a fact that when they were both in ANBU that she could rarely keep a steady boyfriend. With the influx of thoughts involving women and ramen the man did not hear the sudden intake of breath followed by the sound of something metallic being dropped.

"Yondaime-sama?" Came a very low and shocked whisper.

Blinking his eyes the Arashi-clone looked to see an older man staring wide-eyed at him standing behind the stand's counter. The man's mouth was opening and closing in quick succession before both hands came up to rub his eyes. It didn't take long for the clone to begin cursing himself for nothing taking into account the possibility of coming into contact with someone who knew his father, and given the age of the man still rubbing eyes that was certainly the case.

_Well, this…Isn't going to be easy to explain to a civilian. _

The clone was already seated on one of the stands stools when the man stopped trying to clear vision that was perfectly normal. Putting on his most charming smile the clone tilted its head to the side, "Hi."

Ramen Ichiraku's owner, the nearing half a century old ex-Shinobi and chef Teuchi, fainted. Leaning over the stand to see if the man was okay the clone could only say, "Damn. I really hope I can still eat here, I'm not in the mood to keep looking around."

"Dad?" Asked a feminine voice just feet away. The cloned Namikaze looked up slightly from the sight of an unconscious ramen maker and saw a young woman, maybe two years younger than him, looking between the man on the ground and him. How hadn't he noticed her? The young woman had long brown hair and with the same shade for her eyes. Her skin was a very fair from what he could see of it; which wasn't as much as he would have preferred. She also wore a white robe, a dark blue apron over the robe, and a very bright bandana on her forehead that matched the robe. She didn't look all that bad now that he thought about it. Not gorgeous, but more than above average.

When her stare finally stopped on him for more than a few seconds he asked, "How is it that I did not notice you?"

"…You're responsible for this." She said it more as a statement than a question.

"Probably."

"You didn't kill him."

"No I did not."

"I've never once met you in my life."

"I can't remember any meeting on my part either."

"…So. Welcome to Ramen Ichiraku! What would you like today?"

"Three bowls of miso please and a bottle of sake, please." The young brunette woman nodded once before turning around to go and prepare the ramen. Arashi-clone moved his head to look back at the man who was still out of it; he hadn't moved an inch and his mouth was open. Curiously he looked up to look at the back of the young woman at work. After doing his customary check out and rating, he gave her an eight, the man opened his mouth to ask the obvious question, "Aren't you going to get him to sit down? Or at least move him out of sight?"

The woman stopped in her ministrations to look over her shoulder back at him, "After I get your ramen out. Dad is real big on the whole, 'the customer comes first' thing."

"Ah, I get it. That's dedication I suppose."

"Plus he needs the sleep. My dad happens to be a bit of a workaholic."

"Mine was too."

"I'm not going to sit with you. I'm working."

"…But ramen goes better with good looking company!"

"So I've heard before. From half a dozen guys who've come by in the last few years, even though you're probably the best looking one whose said it."

"Thanks for the compliment, it makes being denied more bearable."

"You're very welcome."

* * *

><p>Namikaze Naruto face first onto the bed and was not concerned with the smell of old fabric at all. It had been many, many, days since he had even seen a bed of any kind. Maybe a few weeks since he'd even actually slept in one for more than a few hours. Before he had been far to busy being chased by Madara's forces to even risk finding an inn or family home to stay at for a night. But now was a different time. For the time being there was no Uchiha founder and his army chasing after him. He didn't have to worry about being found by Hunter-Nin from his own village. He could just focus on channeling his Inner Nara and do nothing.<p>

Sweet mind numbing _nothing. _

It had been hours after he had first entered walked past the underground entrance and into a small underground city of traps, hallways, traps, empty rooms, traps, dead ends, traps, a few toads, and to top it all off more traps. Honestly he doubted that anyone wouldn't feel just a little bit tired after having to spend so much energy on avoiding traps and trying to find the Namikaze safe house. Really what was his mother thinking when she placed all the traps throughout the underground complex?

The wild feral toad summon was certainly the worst part of his day. That one _had _to have been planned by his dad. Wouldn't be fair to blame just his mom for all of this.

Before he could fall asleep though the Namikaze reached out and tapped a part of the floor next to the bed, and rejoiced when the stone hummed lowly and then glowed. Thank Kami-sama herself that the design of this entire place was exactly the same as in his world. Closing his eyes the Namikaze heir channeled more chakra into the seal he was touching and knew that the entrance back in the open field was closing up. Silently mouthing thanks to his father for putting such seals in place he prepared to drift off into the first real sleep he'd get to have in close to a month. Being drugged and unconscious those two times earlier didn't count.

As he was about to fall asleep he noticed something. There was a familiar scent to the bed he was sprawled over. It smelled like…Steak? And seafood? That couldn't be right, no one should have been inside the safe house for years. That was when he felt the unfamiliar feeling of steel pressing up against the back of his neck and saw the shadow of two figures appear behind him. "…If I wasn't so tired you wouldn't have been able to do this, you know that?"

A familiar and feminine voice, although it sounded like it was being blocked by a mask, replied, "And if I didn't take the opportunity we would not be speaking now, Naruto-kun."

"Sup Maelstrom."

Naruto sighed. He wasn't sure whether to be overjoyed that he did not need to waste his time trying to find these two, or whether to be dismayed at the fact that they had breached his family safe house. He settled on being slightly happy, "Good to see you to, Itari-chan. Kisame-sempai."

* * *

><p>The Shinzui Kage Bunshin of Arashi stood in Training Ground 44, aka the Forest of Death, looking over two tri-pronged kunai in a holster strapped to his left leg. As per the agreement he was only allowed the use of two of such weapons; Tsunade was very adamant about it, although Jiraiya believed he could still win in spite of the man using more. According to the Sannin if he could spar against his deceased pupil head to head then he could handle the mans' son.<p>

Upon first glance he was wearing a typical Konoha flak jacket, blue Shinobi sandals, and black pants. Under the jacket he wore a long sleeved red muscle shirt with the entire right sleeve ripped off. The numerous seals tattooed to his right arm were fully visible along with his bandage wrapped forearms. The clone had its entire lower face covered by a leather Menpo face mask. Attached to his right sandal was a black hilted tanto blade and slung over his back was red sheathed ninjato also with a black hilt.

The blonde haired male looked down over his outfit and couldn't help but wish he could have kept the Suna flak jacket in place of the Konoha one. He had grown accustomed to having the extra weight and protection pressing down on his shoulders over the year. Unfortunately another one of the conditions on Tsunade's part included him ditching the Suna jacket, though he had no idea what had inspired it. Aside from those two conditions however, he did not give the rest a second thought.

"Are you ready over there yet?" Asked another voice. The Namikaze looked up from his actions and locked eyes with his opponent. Jiraiya of the Sannin stood fifty meters away from him and was already prepared to fight against the blonde clone.

With an annoyed twitch of his eye the Arashi-clone calmly flipped the older man off. "You do realize that some people don't like change right? I would have been ready a lot sooner if I was allowed to wear that jacket I pilfered from some Suna guy!"

"And a prospective Konoha Shinobi should be wearing Konoha attire. Makes perfect sense to me."

"…It does make _perfect_ sense. That's why I have a problem with it! I spent close to a decade surviving by going against what Konoha would accept as making perfect sense! This is…This is weird."

Jiraiya was about to comment when he first heard the sound of steel slicing through the air. With the reaction time borne of being a veteran of both the Second and Third Great Shinobi Wars Jiraiya pulled out a kunai to block the five shuriken flying towards his left flank. The Sannin parried two of the five before leaping back to avoid the explosive tag mixed in with the remaining three. When he landed twenty feet away he spun around to block a slash from the now drawn ninjato with his kunai and then move his other hand to catch the punch aimed at his right kidney.

In response to this the cloned Namikaze pulled his blade back and attempted to kick out the legs of his opponent. Jiraiya easily leaped over the attack but had to release the hand he had caught to do so. The Namikaze then brought his sword downwards and again the Sannin avoided it only to counter with a slash of his own. A rapid combination of strikes and blocks occurred between them and continued for several seconds before they broke apart.

Arashi quickly sheathed his ninjato and pulled out three explosive-tagged kunai which he launched at Jiraiya. Narrowing his eyes Jiraiya made a single hand seal and a wall of earth rose up between them. The wall soon exploded after the trio of kunai had connected with it. Jiraiya felt his instincts cry out when he felt a slight change in the air around him. He soon began making hand seals in quick succession and called out, "Katon: Endan (Fire Release: Flame Bullet)!"

At the same time from the other side of the smoke Arashi called out, "Fūton: Hayakuchi-kotoba (Wind Release: Tongue Twister)!"

The smoke parted as the two attacks connected for a moment. Jiraiya plainly saw that the two jutsu would not be canceling each other out at all. He was proven correct when they combined into a massive twister of fire that rapidly began encompassing the immediate area. Cursing the Sannin replaced himself with the Kage Bunshin he had hidden underground. A second later he received the memories of his clone's death and was very thankful he hadn't lost much of his speed over the decades. When Jiraiya reemerged from the ground he could not see any trace of his opponent. The Sannin's eyes were darting all around the still burning area of the forest knowing full well how a skilled wind user could turn the flames against him.

_Damn it! How am I going to find him now? Think! This guy's mentioned quite a few of his accomplishments. He doesn't make any attempt at exaggeration at all. He knows he is good, but he doesn't brag about it. I can use that but how?_

Jiraiya's eyes narrowed in concentration as he pulled out a handful of shuriken and threw them at the ones thrown by Arashi. As the throwing stars ricocheted off each other the Sannin was still thinking.

_He was in ANBU Black Ops and none of them are ever easily riled up. An ANBU that can't keep his emotions in check during a fight is worthless. That means I can't really goad him into coming out into the open. _

"Oh Ero-Senninnnnn," The clone said in a slow sing-song voice. Jiraiya didn't even bother trying to pin down where the voice had come from; he was using a jutsu to project it from every direction. Messing with his opponents head while remaining completely untraceable. Talking. That was strange for someone who'd made ANBU Captain.

_At the same time though, he hasn't been an ANBU for years by his own admission. And when he abandoned the village the first thing any Hokage would have done would be to deploy ANBU search teams to bring him back. Teams comprised of members who know him inside and out. They'd know all the tricks a Konoha operative could use to disappear and how to find the signs that would indicate such. But there isn't a practical way to use that knowledge because I don't know how he really thinks. _

The Sannin noticed that a pair of burning trees weren't burning quite right. The flames were moving to the slight breeze of air a fraction slower than the rest of the forest.

_Henge. He has plenty of chakra so they're probably Kage Bunshin. I smell a trap. But are they part of the trap or did he put them there for a later time? _

"Doton: Dosekiryū (Earth Release: Earth and Stone Dragon)!"

_WHAT? _

The veteran Shinobi looked to his right and caught sight of a massive dragon come out of the ground just outside the fires edge. Not waiting for it to turn in his direction, Jiraiya quickly flew through another series of hand seals. When the dragon began moving towards him he had finished, "Doton: Dosekiryū!" To his left another dragon of equal size to the one created by Arashi launched out from the ground to combat the first.

Jiraiya heard the crunch of burned earth behind him and was saved by it. Turning his head several millimeters to the right and he was able to avoid the ninjato going through his skull. The Toad Sage was however unable to avoid the chakra enhanced kick that slammed into him and sent him flying forward several hundred meters. Before landing he was able to curl up into a ball and was able to slow down enough so that when he did land it was in a controlled roll. Coming to a hastened halt Jiraiya quickly rose back to his feet.

As the dragons began their fight to the death behind him Jiraiya caught sight a blur of blonde, red, and black fast approaching; ninjato in the left hand and tanto in the right hand. With just enough time for his hands to drop down and draw a pair of kunai the Sannin was able to channel chakra into the bottom of his feet and stick to the charred surface before Arashi slammed into him. The older man was able to block each of the separate attacks from the clone easily enough and was in a position to counter with an attack of his own. Arashi was able to kick off of the ground before Jiraiya could do anything however and, with most of the momentum still behind him, was able to go over the man.

Jiraiya swiftly dropped the kunai in his left hand and caught the clone's right leg in a vice-like grip. Using all the strength his large frame gave him the Sannin slammed Arashi against the ash covered ground; receiving a shallow cut across the back of his neck in the process courtesy of the tanto. The blackened earth provided a slightly softer landing and as such the impact did less than Jiraiya had hoped it would, barely stunning the clone for more than half a second. Clearly the man had reflexes of nearly the same level as Minato himself.

His assumption was proven correct when a lighting fast kick connected with the bottom of his jaw. Being forced back several steps Jiraiya was keenly aware of the fact that the blow had no chakra enhanced strength behind it. If it had then he would have had to deal with a dislocated jaw later on instead of the bruising he would be sporting the next day. Looking down he saw a smirk for just a heartbeat before it vanished into dozens of blades of wind followed by a massive pressure rolling over the area and nearly forcing him down to his knees.

_What the hell was that? Some kind of suicidal Kage Bunshin technique maybe? These new cuts aren't very deep but they sting, and if wasn't for the chakra I'm channeling to my feet I wouldn't even be standing at all. Wait a minute, the others!_

Jiraiya spun around fast enough to block the first upward swing of the ninjato with his remaining kunai. He _wasn't _fast enough to avoid the tanto being driven into his arm however. Narrowing his eyes he grabbed at the hand attached to the shorter blade with the hand of his injured arm. On instinct Jiraiya turned to face his left and held onto the blonde man who had stabbed him as another blonde slammed into its back.

The Sannin felt all of the clone's weight moving at thirty miles slam first into the one he had caught, which did not dispel, followed by both slamming into him. He barely bit back a cry of pain when the force pushed the tanto deeper into his wounded arm. Judging from the jarring sensations he felt in the arm Jiraiya was fairly certain that if he hadn't been reinforcing his bones with chakra the entire limb would have snapped. But it was worth it when the blonde still in his grasp gasped as the air was driven from his longs followed by the one behind it disappeared.

With a roar Jiraiya head butted the stunned ex-ANBU Captain before forcing him to the ground. There he brought down his uninjured arm down into the Namikaze's solar plexus and heard the hiss of pain and bone snapping. While he wasn't capable of physically matching his female teammate in a battle of strength Jiraiya's attacks were capable of putting most Shinobi out of action with a single blow.

He heard the sound of the two stone dragons destroying each other to his left but did not look. Jiraiya leapt back away but still kept his gaze on the clone who was now beginning to get up albeit with some difficulty. He took notice of the fact that it was not the clone that was in the worse state. In fact all it looked like he had done was to give the blue eyed clone a few broken ribs at most. Then again it didn't really matter all that much. Gripping the hilt of short blade he slowly pulled it out slightly. The pain wasn't anywhere near a Tsunade-level beating so he wasn't complaining. Making sure to keep a look out for more Kage Bunshin amongst the burning trees, Jiraiya swiftly snapped the hilt of the tanto. Then he pinned the tip of the blade between chakra coated fingers and pulled it out.

The Sannin hissed lowly as the worst of the pain soon subsided. He then heard the sound of ragged breathing that was not his own, "Hey…That…Was…A gift…From…Fugaku…You…Screw it. Insults…Later…"

Using an E-Rank Katon jutsu Jiraiya cauterized the bleeding wound he had been dealt. He knew that he wouldn't have full use of his arm for the rest of this fight. That was fine by him. He thought he still had enough use left in it to make hand seals. Still looking at the now standing Arashi he spoke, "Like I was going to just throw it to the ground. You'd still be able to use it if I did. Look, if you beat me I'll get you a new one, okay?"

To his surprise the clone looked up at him heatedly. He could see the anger in the cobalt-blue eyes clear as day. "Birthday present!" Snarled the Namikaze as his eyes began to fill with flecks of red. The clone hadn't told Jiraiya or Tsunade everything, just like the man had said the day previous. Arashi knew that Jiraiya did not know just what had happened on the day he was given that blade. He'd kept from mentioning Orochimaru's experiments and what happened to his father a secret. But that tanto was one of the few things he had left that helped him remember better times. When he was a proud Shinobi of his home, when he didn't have to worry whether or not the next team of ANBU sent after him would have an old friend, when his biggest concern had been planning how to handle an upcoming wedding.

His heart ached and he felt the familiar embers of rage start to grow. He began moving his hands through a complex series of hand seals. Jiraiya couldn't be killed, that would be a death sentence for him. Closing his eyes he focused on the remaining power of the Kyubi he still had, and what he had left behind when last he visited his mindscape. He began to gather the chakra he would need for this. The clone felt a familiar pressure build up behind his eyes. When he opened his eyes Jiraiya gasped.

A pair of purple eyes filled with ripples around the pupil stared back at the Sannin.

Finishing his hand seals Arashi placed one hand over his abdomen and slammed the other on the ground before crying out, "Kuchiyose: Jinkourai Kitsune (Summoning: Artificial Lightning Fox)!"

* * *

><p><em><strong>AN: So I posted it a day late. Sue me. Wait. No, ignore that last part. Please, out of curiosity, tell me who you think was winning the fight when I cut it off. Personally, I think at this point Jiraiya's winning it. <strong>_

_**I'm sorry about the length of the fight between them this chapter. It was originally a few thousand words longer but I wanted to see how you guys would take to Namikaze's ability this chapter. The rest of the fight is now a part of the next chapter. Anyways, here are a few review shout outs. Was the surprise introduction of a certain duo a shock? Expect more to come reader, expect more to come. Anyways, time for some review shout outs. **_

_**To Leonineus, yup. KakaAnko present. At first before I was even aware of fan fiction I never would have given this pairing a thought. But then I read Agent-G's Naruto Hatake and by the end of it the pair grew on me. Then I started playing around with ideas about Anko's insanity and how it would affect Kakashi's pervertedness and tardiness. **_

_**To EditorFin, I respectfully disagree. Sort of. He sucks until he gets good teaching. The way I see it, Namikaze Naruto is what Uzumaki Naruto could have been with proper teaching and training from the get go. Better yet, what he could still become soon. **_

_**To Hiei-Uchiha, I intend to include the fights you mentioned. That's a definite eventuality. And I am really looking forward to the interactions of N Naruto and Danzo. He'll have sympathies to Danzo's side more than Tsundae's, but he isn't exactly as radical as the old guy. Plus he hates Orochimaru with a passion. I'm talking 'Sasuke's hate for Itachi before the truth comes out' hate. And Danzo was working with him from the shadows. Conflict. **_

_**Anyway don't expect any updates for the rest of this week. Tomorrow I'm going off to Dorney Park, and Thursday its Niagara Falls. **_

_**Jutsu.**_

_**Fūton: Hayakuchikotoba (Wind Release: Tongue Twister): One of Namikaze's original jutsu. A-rank because of difficulty to learn, C-rank for offensive use, and A-Rank when used in Collaboration as seen. It requires incredible mastery of wind style Ninjutsu as well as better than average chakra control. The user begins to mold a ball of wind chakra on the tip of the tongue. The ball expands into a small twister that is controlled by the users tongue. Hence the chakra control. Very little actual chance of causing death or permanent injury, it was meant to work in conjunction with someone of high Katon mastery. The main purpose is pretty much what you saw in the chapter: Destroy a heavily forested battlefield in seconds and create confusion and fear through near instant forest fires. That didn't happen in the Forest of Death because that place seems like it wouldn't let itself be killed by a little fire. **_

_**Kuchiyose: Jinkourai Kitsune (Summoning: Artificial Lightning Fox): Self explanatory right? This. This is a major part of what I've been alluding to. You guys wanna know just what exactly happened when Namikaze was subject to Orochimaru's experimentations? Give you a hint; he wanted a pair of eyes that weren't the Sharingan. **_

_**See here's where the story goes a bit more AU. We don't know exactly how the Rinnegan activates. I don't want to try and come up with one, I'll leave that to the guy writing it. From what we do know though, its permanent. As far as we know Nagato can't turn it off like the Sharingan. But then I though about trying to **_**force **_**an activation. This is where Orochimaru comes in. **_

_**He knew Naruto was an Uzumaki, and that only they could awaken the Rinnegan. And like us he didn't know how it manifested naturally. So what's he do? He works around that. He captures Naruto and works for a year on creating his own method of bringing the most powerful Dojutsu into the world. This is totally Orochimaru, heck maybe that's how Pein got it in the first place. Anyways…**_

_**He failed. **_

_**The Snake could not successfully produce the 'true' Rinnegan. But he did find success in creating a bastardized variation. What Namikaze has isn't**_**, repeat NOT, **_**the Rinnegan. He can't exactly use all the different types of chakra nature, and he can't read the tablet of Sage of the Six Paths. His variant of the Rinnegan isn't permanent. He can't activate it at will, only during times when he gets emotional. But what it does do however, is allow him to give elemental chakra physical form. EX, the summon. **_

_**This is where what he did back in Chapter 3 comes into play. He connected what remained of the Kyubi chakra inside of him with both his own chakra, and his ability to give chakra physical form. Each of the seals he made correspond to a different element and are used to take the Biju chakra and convert it into something outside of his body. Size, shape, and strength all reliant on how much of his own chakra he adds to it as well. Weapons, shields, summons, etc, made of pure chakra, and ranging in size from maybe a kunai all the way up to…Do I even need say it? He just used it at the end.**_

_**Think of it as Naruto doing what the Sage did to the Ten-Tails apparently. Basically, Namikaze Naruto can create Tailed-Beasts, sort-of. They won't have the full power of the Nine-Tails because Naruto only has less than Six-Tails worth of power left, and that's depleting even without being used like this. But they do have the mind of the Kyubi, even though its bound to the Namikaze. And I mean **_**bound. **_**If one of these things gets destroyed, or if they are kept around longer than say ten minutes…**_

…_**Heart stopper. Literally.**_

_**Well here is me hoping you guys like this. I hope you do, this is the big test of this fiction. And before I forget, the faux Rinnegan thing? It happens to be part of my answer to giving him a power boost to match Sage Mode. **_

_**OH, and because no one caught it. The reference I mentioned last chapter is one to Final Fantasy VII Crisis Core. Its Anko's last line in the chapter and is a reference to what Angeal tells Zack when he first uses the Buster Sword to save Zack in Wutai. He tells Zach he's a little more important than a sword…But just barely. **_

_**I'm thinking of writing either a Kingdom Heart or Gundam fic after I finish anyone of my current stories. Preferences?**_

_**-SpartanCommando.**_


	9. Upside DownOkay

A Space-Time Ninjutsu Mess

_**Chapter Nine: The Namikaze reunites with both his fiancé and one of his fans inside his Clan safe house. Problem is that both were under orders to hunt him down and were accidentally brought into a dimension not their own. At the same time Jiraiya continues his test of the Namikaze. Only now he must contend with a smaller elemental version of the Kyubi and a legendary dojutsu in the hands of the clone. When everything finally comes to a close how will Konoha be changed?**_

**Special Thanks to DragonKnightRyu for being this story's beta reader.**

Disclaimer: I do not in any way shape or form own Naruto Shippuden, or anything unique to it. The show and manga are owned by Kishimoto-Massashi. I think I do own Namikaze Naruto though, or at least the one in this fiction since as of yet Naruto hasn't changed his name in the manga, and also Anko's snake summon. I do not own Uchiha Itari, both the name and her appearance belong to fellow author BigCC. The Fusion Sword belongs to the team who worked one FFVII: Advent Children and, just to be safe, Square Enix. Also, there may be parts of this story where I combine certain things from the English, and Japanese parts of Naruto.

"Normal Speech"

_Normal Thoughts_

'Human Speech' (Inside Mindscape)

'_Human Thought' _(Inside Mindscape)

"_Lip Reading" _(Not so often in this fic)

"_**Bijuu Speech" **_(Outside Mindscape)

**-Bijuu Speech- **(Inside Mindscape)

'_**Bijuu Thought'**_

"**Summons Speech"**(With certain exceptions)

'**Summons Thoughts'**(With certain exceptions)

* * *

><p>Sarutobi Konohamau hastily placed both hands over his mouth and pressed his small body as deep into the tree bark as possible. In the tree directly opposite of him a trio of snakes, each of equal size to him, was working their way through the forest silently. The snakes all had the same glint of intelligence that distinguished them from their wilder cousins and showed their status as Summons.<p>

One of the snakes in particular was moving along at a much slower pace than its partners. This snake continuously moved its head in every direction possible and stuck out its forked tongue. It was a mottled green and yellowish color, with black diamond like patters all along its body. To further stand out it also sported a missing eye and a long, still red and fresh, scar where it had once been. Looking into its eye he saw the hatred and lust for vengeance clear as day.

Seeing that made the young Sarutobi sincerely wish he hadn't thrown that kunai yesterday in the midst of his psychotic sensei's torture sessions that she considered _team exercises_.

_More like exercises for her snakes! _Thought Konohamaru. Indeed for the past few days since his graduation this had been his life. Wake up in the morning, eat breakfast take a shower, say bye to mom, occasionally greet Uncle Asuma, and then meet up with his team up at the entrance to Training Ground 44. From there they would wait an hour for their designated sensei to show up and begin their new day of training.

He had and his friends, Udon and Moegi, had known from their first meeting with her during the last Chunin Exams in Konoha that Mitarashi Anko was crazy and scary after only a few minutes. They had learned to fear and obey her every word or suffer the consequences within the first fifty seconds of her summoning her largest snake to test them all on day one.

In some ways he knew that his team's test was much more straightforward than those of other teams. There was no bell test like the Boss's, no immobilizing their sensei like the test his Uncle used on his team, and no tracking down their sensei like his Uncle's not-so-secret girlfriend own test. None of these; they just had to stay alive until she returned from a card game.

It had taken her close to four hours to return and get rid of the monstrosity of a python that was Anko-sensei's 'Shuushuku-kun' Summon. By that time Konomaru had been captured three times, Moegi twice, Udon nearly swallowed twice, and Konohamaru once. Anko-sensei was strangely in a hurry that day, something about someone being sent to the hospital, so once that was done she passed them before leaving for the hospital. Curiously she did thank them at the time all though they had no idea why. Udon figured it out rather quickly some time later on that night; both he and Konohamaru were missing all the money they had brought with them.

It was still a mystery how that had happened, though Moegi was convinced that there smaller snakes they hadn't noticed around them that had taken the pairs wallets.

On the plus side these exercises Anko-sensei was having them do was sure to make their teamwork the best of their graduating Genin Class. In fact, Konohamaru slowly brought both hands down to pull out the two shuriken he had planted in the bark, their teamwork should be very useful in just a few seconds. _Three, two, one. NOW! _He threw his weapons towards a tree branch just below the lead snake. At the same time he saw two more sets of shuriken launch out of cover from two other trees a second after his. The sound of steel striking the tree rang in his ears beautifully as a number of firecrackers and stink bombs were all activated at once.

If there was one thing that the Genin of Team Anko had learned it was that these kind of snake summons specialized in tracking by searching for both body heat and scent. The stink bombs neutralized the ability to taste the air, while the firecrackers released instant but large heat waves and blinded their vision. The lessons the team learned yesterday when they had failed to escape this snake trio were paying off.

As one the members of Team Anko leapt from their respective positions and bounded for the bottom of the tree. At the bottom of said tree were a litter of black and brown mice in placed in a box. Moegi was the first to reach the box and quickly picked it up before leaping west. Konohamaru and Udon followed just behind her carrying the rest of the firecrackers and smoke bombs. Darting through the trees the team heard the hissing of three of very ticked off legless reptiles. Konohamaru hurled the remaining stink bombs behind them to further confuse the snakes if they decided to make an attempt at pursuing him and his friends. Minutes later they arrived at the entrance to Training Ground 44 heads held high and an inextinguishable elation knowing that they had outsmarted the three tracking snakes that had beat them the day before.

…All of which was promptly replaced with surprise when they saw their sensei peacefully taking a nap atop the green and brown scaly head of Shuushuku. The large Snake Summon was coiled up into a ball with its head sticking out. From the head down to the tip of its barely visible tail numerous grey tattoos in the shape of snake fangs lined the rusty orange diamonds that patterned his skin. Shuushuku was hissing out a low, gentle, and calming hypnotizing tune from his mouth while both unblinking brown eyes stared up at Anko. Two empty boxes of dango lay discarded on the tip of his snout, but the snake either did not notice or did not care.

Team Anko slowly came to the realization that Shuushuku was for all intents and purposes singing a snake version of a lullaby. Curiosity mixed in with their nervousness Konohamaru, Moegi, and Udon continued to watch the same snake that was the major part of their Genin Test. Despite knowing, or rather hoping, that Shuushuku would never eat them the team flinched when large predatory eyes rolled down to look at them. Abruptly the hissing stopped and the massive snake's tongue extended to tickle the sleeping Anko's back through her trench coat. "Mm…No…Don wanna wake up…'ive more minutes."

Rolling his eyes the snake moved its tongue away from his partner's back and towards her face. Team Anko watched in morbid fascination as the tongue began to lick the woman's face affectionately. Surprisingly Anko began giggling but did not open her eyes, "All right, all alright! Hahaha, who's licking me?"

"**That would be me, Anko-chan. Your hairless rodents have returned carrying…" **Here the large python paused to taste the air with its purple tongue before hissing distastefully. **"…More rodents. Too small to even be considered an appetizer for a snack." **

Anko swiftly opened her eyes and rose up to look at her students seriously. Narrowing pupil less brown eyes she spoke in a low and threatening voice while leaking out an impressive Killing Intent, "You never speak of what you just saw. Not. A. Word. Understand?" Her three Genin students gulped before slowly nodding in understanding without Anko mentioning a single threat. Such things were unspoken facts in regards to the Tokubetsu Jonin's training methods. She smirked before the Killing Intent disappeared and then affectionately rubbed a spot just above Shuushuku's right eye. The snake let out a pleased hiss as Anko again spoke to her team. "So you got the baby snake food?"

Konohamaru was about to answer when a sharp howl rolled over them. The three Genin turned to look in the direction of the howl while their sensei tensed up. Anko may have only been eight when the Kyubi attacked Konohagakure but she would never be able to forget the sound of the most powerful of Biju attacking the village. The sound of destruction only barely drowned out by the monster's hair-raising howl. Looking in the same direction as her team Anko could plainly see the small plumes of smoke in the distance. Immediately rising to her feet Anko calmly told Shuushuku to follow her example. Wordlessly half of the massive python's body lifted up from the ground uncoiling to reach of ninety feet. From that height Anko began surveying the horizon for something she hoped was just her imagination.

As her eyes caught sight of something large perhaps five kilometers away in the forest she saw that she was both right and wrong. From her position atop Shuushuku's head she could see that a part of the forest looked to be on fire and in the center of it she made out the basic shape of what looked to be a blue fox. Biting the bottom of her lip Anko looked back down at her Genin Team. As much as the Snake Mistress enjoyed putting her charges in entertaining positions she knew her duty was to ensure their safety as the Jonin-sensei. "Shuushuku-kun…"

"**I know imooto." **The snake said in a low voice as it let out a hiss. Taking care not to dislodge Anko from his head Shuushuku lowered his long body back to the ground. **"Get onboard now you hairless rats. Something big is going down and as far as Anko-chan and I are concerned you three don't belong here." **

"What is going on Anko-sensei?" Udon asked as he hesitantly got on the massive scaly summon.

The Tokubetsu Jonin gave her student a sharp look, "No clue. And that my little Genin, is something a Shinobi or Kunoichi should always be wary of." As if to punctuate her statement they all heard another howl followed by an explosion.

* * *

><p><em>Well…At least it isn't the <em>real_ Kami-damned Kyubi…I hope._ Were the thoughts of one Jiraiya of the Sannin. The legendary Toad Summoner stood immobile in the presence of miniature, lightning, version of the very same monstrosity that had taken the life of his prized pupil to seal away. It was easily Gamabunta's height, and twice his length. Right before his eyes Jiraiya saw that the skin of the Kitsune was constantly moving at untraceable speeds in every direction. The Sannin could also see that any and all rocks within five feet of the massive creature were literally coming apart at the seams. In the instant he had looked over the towering electrical fox he knew that his chances of winning were significantly lowered.

That was not the worst thing that Jiraiya had seen however. No that honor went straight to the pair of purple ripple patterned eyes he had seen replace the cobalt-blue of the Arashi-clone. The legendary Rinnegan dojutsu, the same eyes carried by the mythical Sage of the Six Paths centuries prior. And if memory served gave the wielder of such eyes access to every single kind of elemental chakra manipulation in the known Shinobi world.

Jiraiya blinked once before remembering that he was still in a battle and then began flying through a sequence of hand seals. "Doton: Yomi Numa (Earth Release: Swamp of the Underworld)!" The ground beneath the large Jinkourai Kitsune suddenly turned into a massive swamp before it had any chance to react. It began thrashing wildly trying to pull itself from the muddy chakra infused swampland. Not knowing what the creature was truly capable of Jiraiya decided to play it safe and leapt back to create a fair amount of distance between him and the fox. This proved to be a very smart decision as the beast's thrashing came to an abrupt halt when the clone placed a hand to its head. A second later it growled out in its static laced way as it started to channel lighting chakra into the swamp.

Not good. Doton: Yomi Numa was an earth based jutsu; the weakest and most vulnerable nature type against the lightning based fox. Already the Sannin could see the swamp beginning to bubble and begin to lose its hold on the Kitsune. He was nonplussed however because no matter how much time the jutsu would be able to hold he would have enough time for another jutsu.

If the blonde haired clone standing on top of a lightning fox's head decided to turn this into a battle of summons there was no way Jiraiya would be left out. First he bit his thumb and moved past another set of seals before slamming his hand into the ground, "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" A pair of large puffs of smoke came into existence beneath the Sannin. When the smoke cleared Jiraiya stood atop the head of the Toad Boss Gamabunta. To his left now stood a magenta skinned toad with black marking over his head, arms, and legs, with a pair of horns jutting out of his head. The toad wore mesh armor beneath a black kimono with a white sash and was armed with a shield and sasumata.

The Toad Boss calmly brought his large pipe to his mouth while looking at the pure lighting fox begin to free itself from the Yomi Numa. **"Jiraiya, mind telling me what I'm looking at?" **

"**Indeed. I am most curious as to why you have trapped a giant fox as well." **Added the unbelievably modest toad, Gamaken.

Jiraiya gingerly moved his freshly injured left arm around before answering, "Long story short, some punk showed up a little while and put Naruto into a coma that he just woke up from yesterday afternoon. He wants to be allowed to stay in Konoha so Tsunade and me decided to test him so that we could see how good he really is. So far we've been pretty close but…Well he got a good hit on my arm and I just broke a few ribs. That fox over there is some kind of summon of his so be careful. Its pure lightning from what I can tell."

Gamabunta chuckled humorlessly while bringing up a webbed hand to the scar over his left eye. **"Jiraiya I've learned a long time ago that if a fox is **_**ever **_**involved, that I need to be careful. I almost lost an eye the last time I went up against one." **

"Right, forgot about that. We're at a disadvantage here 'Bunta. Doton jutsu won't have much of an effect on it, and I'd rather not have to use a Suiton either. The last thing we need is to cover this entire place in water and get electrocuted from that thing putting just a single on of its paws down."

"**I see. That leaves us with Katon for the most part then. Against something made up of lightning we don't have much of an edge. Gamaken." **

"**Gamabunta?" **

"**I think you should keep your shield and sasumata ready. If we can pin it down then Jiraiya should be able to knock off that…" **

"'Bunta?"

"…**It appears that I am to fight against a ghost, Jiraiya." **

Jiraiya knew right away what his trusted friend was talking about. Kami knew he'd been thinking much the same the first time he saw the clone on the other side of an interrogation window. "Fights almost exactly like him to."

"**So you're saying he was going easy on you?" **

"What was that supposed to mean? We were at a draw until he brought that thing out!"

Gamabunta merely chuckled before putting his pipe away and drawing his massive tanto blade. Gamaken brought his shield in front of him and tightly gripped his staff. Finally the Jinkourai Kitsune freed itself from the hold of the Yomi Numa. The Summons bright white eyes looked straight at the opposing toads before tensing up its legs. Behind its body the long electrical tail swung left and then right before emitting a shrill charging sound similar to the Chidori created by Hatake Kakashi. Indeed a large white ball of pure electrical power like that of Chidori began to form at the tip of the tail.

Jiraiya, Gamabunta, and Gamaken all readied themselves for the inevitable discharge of energy. Upon the unspoken command from the Arashi-clone the Kitsune whipped its tail at the two toads. The ball of energy streaked through the air at them before detonating midway in a bright flash of light and sound. In the split second after being blinded Jiraiya quickly became aware of three facts. The first was that it would be a few seconds at the earliest before he and the toads could see and hear properly again. Secondly the Kitsune would more than likely move to rush at one of them very soon. And third; he was thankful that they were not fighting to the death in this test.

* * *

><p>"Kisame."<p>

"Yeah?"

"You're really enjoying this aren't you?"

"Course. Knowing the great Kazaama as well as I do, you'll find a way to turn this into a brilliant chapter in your next volume of Kuraku no Kuni."

"…That is a very good possibility."

"You must talk more when you are in no position to use your chakra."

"That hurt 'Tari-channnnn."

"In his defense Itari, you did decide to hang him upside down from the ceiling and tie Samehada to him. I think he should be entitled to be a bit more talkative."

Indeed Namikaze Naruto was currently in one of the most embarrassing situations of his entire twenty two years of life. Not only had he failed to pick up on the fact that the Namikaze Clan safe house had been infiltrated, he had allowed both infiltrators to sneak up on him. Then he was knocked out by a few well placed blows from Kisame to his face, had one hand tied to his back and the other to his chest, hung upside down from the ceiling, and tied to the chakra guzzling Samehada that was constantly growing thanks to his vast chakra reserves.

In short; he was weak, unable to move, and being forced to feed a sentient bandage wrapped sword…Not one of his best days.

_But_, Naruto thought silently while looking at the Sharingan wielding Uchiha Itari who was still in her ANBU Captain uniform, cloak included, missing only her weasel mask, _This is fairly interesting. I swear she's not just doing this as part of her orders. Which means that maybe-_

"Don't think."

"What?"

The Uchiha Clan heiress crossed both arms over her armored chest before tilting her head to the left, her ponytail barely moving with the movement. "You have that look on your face."

Naruto blinked down at her genuinely surprised. "I have a look?"

"Yes. It's your 'I can end this in bed' look."

"You know you've had a great day if it ends in a warm bed."

"Bow chicka bow wow." Sharingan-red and cobalt-blue eyes turned to stare at the blue skinned man sprawled on the black couch he had dragged into the common room of the safe house. Hoshigaki Kisame slowly moved his book away from his face to return the looks. "I have blue skin and gills. I _know _I'm entitled to say whatever the hell I want. And if what I want to say is something from an old online entertainment show, so be it." Then he hid his face behind the book before chuckling once.

Naruto and Itari exchanged a look before shrugging. "I suppose that does make a lot of sense, ne Itari?"

The pair of three-tomoed eyes merely stared at him before their owner sighed. "Yes, though personally I believe he's been allowed far to much exposure to electronics. And I do actually agree with your earlier statement, many nights have proved that statement, but now we've some how gone off topic."

"There is no topic yet. Unless you count me having a 'look' as you call it a topic that is. Which, knowing you as well as I do, is most certainly not."

"Why did I fight an Uchiha who looked eerily similar to myself?"

That single sentence was all that it took to keep Naruto from opening his mouth once again. As far as the blonde Namikaze heir knew there could only be one man that Itari could possibly be talking about; Uchiha Itachi. Naruto closed his eyes and sighed in deep thought. How in the name of Kami was he going to explain the fact that they were in an alternate dimension? Maybe it would be in both their interests to be straightforward with one another?

_Yeah, that's probably the least dangerous thing to do here. I seriously don't want to piss off a Genjutsu Mistress of Konoha. Then again there is no way in hell she could mess my mind up anymore than it already is. Still, as they say, better safe than sorry. _"Promise me you won't put me in _that _Genjutsu if you don't like what I'm going to say?"

"…I make no promises."

Kisame chose that time to put the book down once again and look curiously at the odd pair of engaged ninja. "What is 'that Genjutsu' you two are talking about?"

"Kisame-sempai I will explain it to you in a very simple manner. Replace the content of my Kuraku no Kuni series with Yaoi."

"…"

"Kisame."

"…Never use that on me Itari. I want the memories of my favorite novel to be untainted with the blasphemy that would become of it should you do so."

Narrowing her eyes Itari forcibly nodded her head once towards Naruto. "_Fine_. Just explain."

Taking a deep breath Naruto decided to get it out and over with already. "When we cornered Madara into that trap we must have been caught in it as well. Unlike him we were not trapped in the dimensional void of nothingness; rather we were sent into another dimension entirely. In this world _I _never abandoned our village, that was the male version of you. Kisame-sempai's self in this world seems to have done the same and abandoned Kirigakure…Do you believe me or are you going to trap me in a Genjutsu? Because if you are then I have some rather pleasant suggestions that would keep me out of the picture and _not _try and break free."

Itari merely stared at him unblinkingly for nearly ten seconds before shaking her head. Arms still crossed over her chest she gestured with one finger towards Kisame who had yet to go back to his book. Seeing the signal from his ANBU partner the blue-skinned Kiri Hunter-Nin/Swordsman cleared his throat before looking at the ceiling in thought. Seemingly coming to a decision he shrugged. "We already knew that part Kouhai. It wasn't all that hard to figure out since from what she told me this guy had the same emotionless face she usually has and those lines on his face. What I believe she is asking you is whether or not you were in possession of certain information that would reveal to us why an Uchiha would go rouge and assault other Shinobi from your village."

Perhaps it was in part due to a combination between having his chakra fed upon and the blood pooling in his head, but Naruto looked honestly dumbfounded in the face of Kisame's statement. "You knew already?"

"Kouhai…You do remember that Itari is among the five smartest alive of your village, don't you? A number in which you do add to might I remind you."

Naruto blew out the air in his lungs before realizing that he was still in possession of a piece of knowledge that Itari would most certainly want to know. Knowledge that he was certain she would find out on her own with or without his help. Kisame did have a point after all; of all the people in Konoha alive last time he had looked only Shinyou, Shikaku, Kakashi, and Shikaku's son could match Itari when it came to intelligence. It was why she rumor had it that she was being considered for the position of ANBU Commander at the young age of sixteen when he left home. However what Itari deserved to know was something that needed to be told by someone who cared about her and not by some alternate clan-murdering male version of herself.

Steeling himself to do something that very well had the potential to shatter the world of his Uchiha Princess the Namikaze heir met the woman's Sharingan gaze. "Neither of you have seen a Bingo Book from here yet?" Both shook their heads at the question. "Damn. The man you met, was he wearing a cloak similar to those worn by the Akatsuki in our world?"

Itari's right became somewhat half lidded, her version of raising one's eyebrow in confusion, before responding, "As a matter of fact, yes he was. The color scheme was off though; black with red clouds, not crimson with black clouds. He is a member I take it?"

Naruto nodded in the affirmative before faintly wincing against the bandaged Samehada tied to his back. "His name is Uchiha Itachi, and he was the clan heir as well from what the book mentioned. Although, when I say _was_, I don't mean in the sense that the position was stripped when he became a Nukenin."

The sound of Kisame turning to the next page in the book was heard in the background as Itari asked, "What do you mean then?"

"He killed off the entire Uchiha Clan by himself eight years earlier in a single night."

An undesirable silence soon fell upon the entire common room. Kisame dropped the book he was reading as he quickly whipped his head to look at his female partner. Naruto appeared to be very uncomfortable and silently began to curse Kami for making him the bearer of such tragic news. Neither reaction could compare to that of Uchiha Itari in that moment however.

A number of different emotions raced across the woman's face as her Sharingan was deactivated in the face of what she had just heard. Shock was easy enough to discern just by looking at the onyx-black eyes and not the red of earlier. Disbelief soon came after as the woman refused to accept something so unbelievable before melting into doubt when she remembered that Naruto of all people would never lie to her about something so large. Loss at being in a world where she was likely among the last of her entire family. Anger flared up along with a resurgence the Sharingan now madly spinning in her eyes when she thought back to the encounter with Itachi and how unrepentant he had looked in the face of another Uchiha. All of this was quickly washed away as her mouth dropped before looking at Naruto worriedly, her voice unable to ask a question she needed to have answered.

Naruto had a very good idea that he knew just what it was Itari was silently asking him. With a small sympathetic smile he spoke reassuringly as best he could, "He is alive, though where I have no idea."

Hearing that seemed to for the moment calm the Uchiha woman down long enough for her to regain control of her emotions. Closing her eyes for a moment Itari took a breath and released it slowly before reopening her eyes and looking towards the upside down blonde with a look of reluctant acceptance etched onto her face. Cobalt-blue eyes looked worriedly at suddenly uncertain onyx-black for just a few moments more before Itari turned to leave the room rather hurriedly. Before doing so however she exchanged a quick look with Kisame who, despite him continuing to look at her like he was unsure of what to make of the situation himself, nodded his head stiffly before rising to his feet.

In seconds the tall Kiri man stood feet from the child of the Yondaime Hokage with arms at his sides. Soon though Kisame straightened and brought both hands together behind his back. Naruto was fully aware that despite the Swordsman not wearing his typical gear or carrying any visible weapon he was no less dangerous. Hoshigaki Kisame was the man who once held a position in Kirigakure similar to that of Jonin Commander in Konoha several years earlier before volunteering to be partnered to one of Konoha's ANBU Black Ops Captains. In a village where order was determined by intelligence and strength Kisame had only been a few ranks below the Mizukage himself.

And Naruto was completely subservient to his will now.

A few tense minutes passed in continued silence as both men waited for the other to react first. Eventually Kisame decided to take that course of action himself by starting off like their conversations usually did, "You planning on publishing your books here?"

Naruto took the question to heart as a thoughtful glint shown in his blue eyes. Soon enough the blonde nodded his head, "Why not? I'm more than likely stuck here and Ero-sennin's still coming out with new Icha Icha novels. I really would enjoy seeing Kuraku no Kuni topple Icha Icha once again."

Kisame blinked curiously before responding to what he had just heard, "Jiraiya-sama is still publishing Icha Icha here?"

"Apparently so since Senju Tsunade is the Godaime Hokage here."

"Tsunade willingly _agreed_ to become Hokage? How? According to Itari she can not stand the sight of paper work at all."

"Oh she lost a bet to the me of this dimension and had to take up the hat because of it."

"…Your council put up a Hokage who only agreed to take up office because she lost a bet. That surprises me more than what happened in Kiri."

The Namikaze had an interested look at the mention of the village. From what he had gathered thanks to Kakashi's short summary of international politics Kirigakure had gone dark to the world at large. Information on recent activity in the village was rare and slow coming with nearly nothing being heard aside from rumors of bloodline massacres. His curiosity ever insatiable he quickly asked, "What happened in-wait a minute. You're a Nukenin in this dimension. There is no way you could have gotten into Kiri without getting caught. So how?"

Kisame merely shot him a blank look before gesturing towards the door Itari had used to exit. "She put everyone who got in our way in a Genjutsu and then I drained them of their chakra so that in the event they broke free they'd be weaker than a civilian. We were ordered to hunt you down. Is infiltrating a Hidden Village, especially one that I hail from, something that you honestly think we could not do?"

"Well when you put it that way…Continue please?"

"We were able to infiltrate the Mizukage's mansion easily enough. I'll give you three guesses as to who we found there."

"Yagura?"

"Nope, he's been dead nearly six months now."

"Terumi Mei?"

"Not her either. Though you'll be surprised by what we learned about her."

"The twin brother you have that exists in this dimension but not in ours?"

"Why would you even waste a guess with something like that?"

Naruto shrugged. "In this dimension my fiancé is not female, but male. As far as I was concerned after finding that out anything is possible here."

"Eh, I guess that has some merit. Still wrong though. We found Momoichi Zabuza in the Mizukage's chair going through several dozen pounds of paperwork."

"…Zabuza?"

"Yeah. He's still good in this place to; nearly got to me before I had Samehada block his sword."

The Namikaze heir slowly processed this with a look of disbelief clear on his face. An image of Zabuza, 'The Demon of the Mist', in Kage robes glaring at the endless tide of paperwork appeared in his mind. Still surprised Naruto could only say one thing. "He can't be the Mizukage."

Kisame showed off his many sharp shark-like teeth in a wide grin. "He most certainly is not the Mizukage. Zabuza just does all the paperwork for her in exchange for receiving a full pardon for his failed rebellion against the Yondaime Mizukage, who was Yagura, failed to work a few years ago. The Godaime Mizukage is actually Mei."

"…Is Mei still-"

"Yes. Oh thank Kami, she is."

"Size?"

"I suspect they may actually be bigger."

"Can she still-"

"You'll have to ask Itari."

"Why?"

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…SHE SLEPT WITH _THE _TERUMI MEI!"

"You did promise not to cheat on each other with the opposite sex. And unless I am blind, Terumi Mei is not a man."

"I only said that because I wasn't exactly sure whether or not the engagement was still legitimate! SHE SLEPT WITH MEI!"

Kisame allowed the blood to leak out of his nostrils as he thought back to that time just days ago when he and his partner left Kiri. More specifically the groping done by the Mizukage. "And unlike you and her, I wholeheartedly approve of their relationship Kouhai."

"This is not fair! Why the hell didn't the three of us show up in the same place? I missed a possible _threesome_ with Itari _and _Mei!"

"You're adding that into the next book, right?"

"SHE SLEPT WITH MEI!"

Kisame rolled his eyes at the younger man now beginning to froth at the mouth. If he were to say anything about Namikaze Minato, it was that if it ever a situation arose where he missed out on anything involving two women the man would rant for hours. Then again…

Itari and Mei.

…What sane man _wouldn't _react in much the same way.

(At that moment in Kirigakure)

"Damn it all you infernal woman!" Roared Momoichi Zabuza as looked up at the red-haired beauty whom had just entered the room. Of course all the Swordsman could see of the woman without raising his head over the three massive piles of paperwork was her face. "I should have just rejected your offer and be executed if only so _you _would have to deal with this!"

"Oh poor, poor, little Zabuza, driven to tears by tiny sheets of paper." Teased the Godaime Mizukage, Terumi Mei, while smiling at her deputy.

"Tiny? Tiny! Look at this! Look at it! No wonder Yagura went insane, it _never _ends! Every single time I close my eyes for more than a second I swear it mocks me!"

"Don't worry Zabuza, this is only until your probationary period ends. Then you can talk to a good psychologist about all the times these inanimate objects have been speaking to you."

"I am on '_probation_' until you decide I'm fit to rejoin the regular forces." Growled out the man while unconsciously gnawing through the bandages wrapped around his lower face. "You just want to enjoy the free time you've been having so much lately."

Mei merely shrugged. "What can I say? Being a Kage is tiring."

"Tiring? _I've _been fulfilling most of you Kage duties for you! How is it tiring?" He had yet to even see the desk devoid of paper.

"I do need to entertain state guests remember?"

"You _slept _with one of the last two guests you met."

"And I assure you that it was most entertaining for both parties, and _tiring_."

"…I should have let you kill me." Grumbled Zabuza as he turned his attention away from the infuriating Kage and back to the endless horror that had been his burden for the last five continuous months after silently mumbling a few more words, "Damned playboy, girl whatever, of a kage. It's no wonder why she hasn't married yet."

"Zabuza…" He knew that voice all to well.

Damn her hearing!

* * *

><p>Jiraiya haggardly breathed a sigh of relief once his eye sight had returned to him again. The battle against the Arashi-clone and the lightning fox he had summoned was not going well for the Toad Sannin. He discovered early on that there was no chance of him, Gamaken, or Gamabunta avoiding the Kitsune's attacks. Being made entirely of lightning meant that the creature was unbelievably fast and nearly impossible to keep track of. In fact the Sannin was certain that the beast was not even actually listening to its summoner in the slightest because there had been nearly half a dozen times when the battle could have been ended only to continue when the Kitsune ignored them. Much to his displeasure it was rather clear that the Fox was more than likely toying with them for its own amusement.<p>

That had been its mistake and his fortune however.

The sight before him brought a smile to his face in spite of the high frequency howls being released by the massive summon. He felt bad for having to use Gamabunta as bait and the cause of the Boss Toad being electrocuted several times but the result was worth it. The Kitsune thrashed wildly as it tried to find a way out of Gamaken's sasumata and the combined might of both toads holding it in place. Unfortunately he noticed too late that something was missing from the Kitsune.

He was reminded when he was forced to dodge a slash from the clone's ninjato blade that would have resulted in a clean decapitation had it made contact. This was soon followed by him being tackled from behind by a second blonde haired clone off Gamabunta's head. During the sixty foot drop to the surface he had slammed his elbow into his opponents head and heard it pop out of existence. Then he had quickly formed a Kage Bunshin of his own to soften the collision with the fast approaching ground.

The Sannin forced his body off of the still ashy ground as a pair of feet landed near him. Turning around Jiraiya saw the pair of Rinnegan eyes staring back at him with an impatient gleam behind them. Without waiting the clone swiftly closed the distance between them as it pulled its sword wielding arm back. Jiraiya saw the crackled of electricity running up and down the blade as its wielder drew closer. Drawing a kunai from his pouch Jiraiya was able to easily avoid the strike by pivoting to the left…

…And felt at least a few hundred volts of electricity fill his veins and leave him stunned.

Without missing a beat the blonde haired cloned Arashi swiftly turned to face Jiraiya and knocked the kunai out of the older man's grip with his ninjato. Using his willpower alone Jiraiya was able to overcome the shock to his body and regain enough movement to duck a swing to his jugular vein. Jiraiya was then in a position where he was able to kick out the Arashi-clones legs, which he did not hesitate to do. Once on the ground Jiriaya stood up faster than his younger opponent and grabbed him by the blonde hair.

Thanks to Jiraiya's many years of experience it was unsurprisingly easy to lift the clone off the ground and throw him at one of the few trees still standing amidst their battlefield. While flying through the air Arashi-clone looked up with purple eyes and glared as he moved his left wrist to throw another kunai at the Sannin. Jiraiya narrowed his eyes once he caught sight of the tri-pronged kunai flying towards him. He'd sparred against his student enough to know that the kunai was in no way meant to actually cause him any injury. If Jiraiya avoided it then his opponent would appear behind him or at his sides, and if he blocked it then he would be left vulnerable to an attack from the front.

As the tri-pronged weapon reached the halfway point between him and it Jiraiya held out a single hand. A ball of pure chakra came to life within the palm of his right hand and began spinning. _If I do this though he'll have to lose that kunai or appear in front of me to save it and risk being struck by my Rasengan. _Jiraiya's thinking was proved correct when the clone struck the tree and knocked it down just as his Rasengan made short work of the Hiraishin kunai for the most part. The Sannin looked down at his hand and saw that the blade had pricked the skin before being destroyed.

Jiraiya let out a sigh at seeing that all he had suffered was a minor scratch. It seemed that the kunai Arashi was using as the medium for his Space Time Ninjutsu were not up to par with those used by Minato. His weapons were capable of surviving contact with pure demonic chakra, as proven during an encounter with the current Raikage and his brother years ago. A low groan caught his attention and Jiraiya looked back towards the tree to see that the Arashi-clone was back on his feet with a hand pressed to the back of his head. After moving the hand back in front of him Jiraiya saw the red liquid dripping off of it just as the clone looked back at him. "You're stronger than the Jiraiya I knew back in my home."

Hearing this Jiraiya raised both eyebrows somewhat before blinking. The white-spiky haired Sannin held his right hand out in front of him and formed the Rasengan again before responding, "And how strong am I back there?"

"The Godaime Hokage." And with that the clone took off running in away from Jiraiya. Preparing himself for another of the clone's rather clever sneak attacks it took the older man a few moments to realize something. The clone was not running away from _him._ He was running from what was behind him. But all that was behind Jiraiya was the Kitsune Summon. Eyes widening Jiraiya turned around to see that the fox was beginning to shine brighter than before and had started to make greater effort towards freeing itself.

It did not take more than an instant for the veteran Shinobi to deduce the most likely reasoning for both the fleeing clone and the shining Summon. "Gamaken! Gamabunta! Get out of here, its about to detonate itself!" Thankfully both Toads had heard the Sannin's warning and shared a look before nodding at one another.

"**Jiraiya," **began Gamabunta calmly before slamming his foot into the side of the writhing creature. **"Get out of here now. Gamaken and I will hold it down a while longer and make sure it does not pursue you. We can return to Mount Myōboku before it destroys itself, don't worry." **

Hesitating for only a second Jiraiya nodded once before turning to follow the path of his opponent. Years had taught him that when a Toad said it could do something, it almost always could make good on its word. And if nothing else was true in the world Jiraiya trusted the Toads absolutely. Mere moments later and the Toad Sannin was had regained sight of the Namikaze Shinzui Kage Bunshin Bunshin (Life Blood Shadow Clone). Was it Jiraiya's imagination or was the Arashi-clone moving slower and more sluggish now?

His questioning came to a halt when he heard the Kitsune howl followed by a massive amount of chakra being released. Both the howl and chakra soon disappeared and were replaced by a unbelievably loud static whining noise that soon swept over both Jiraiya and his opponent. Jiraiya was able to continue on for an additional second before the electrical explosion hit him and he blacked out.

When he came back to his senses he failed to suppress the urge to groan in pain. Every fiber of his being felt like it had been punctured by hundreds of senbon needles. His eyes refused to open and he found that he could only barely move his fingers and toes. However he was still alive and he was fairly certain that a kunai was not pressed to his throat. After several slow tortuous seconds that turned into a minute Jiraiya was able to move most of his body and opened his eyes. Blurry vision and sensitivity to light aside, nothing appeared to have happened to them. He also found that he was face down in the ground.

At the moment he could hear nothing at all and assumed that his eardrums had been ruptured by the explosion. A few heartbeats later and Jiraiya had flipped himself on his back and then forced his body into a sitting position in the now worse off forest. Turning his neck to the side he looked behind him in what he assumed to be the direction he had left the two Toads and heaved a sigh when he did not see their bodies. He would find out later whether or not they had managed to avoid being caught like he had been. The Kitsune Summon was also gone. Unfortunately he could not see the exact epicenter of the blast, although that was in no way an immediate concern.

He felt something small hit the back of his head causing him to hastily turn in its direction. This was a poor decision as his vision now swam and he felt incredibly nauseous. Sucking in a breath he could feel a small amount of pain in his numbed body that he suspected meant that he had fallen rather hard to the ground if the three or so broken ribs were any sign. Jiraiya did not have enough feeling back in his body to tell whether or not he had punctured a lung however.

Moving his head up he need a moment to spot the Arashi-clone sitting down with his back pressed against a rock of similar size to himself. Waving a hand the clone opened its mouth to speak and Jiraiya was fortunate enough to read lips, that talent proved valuable in his research, _"Did I win yet?" _

Shaking his head Jiraiya opened his own mouth to speak. "You weren't immune to that explosion of your Summon, were you?" The clone's eyes twitched once before he nodded his head. "Then you haven't won yet. Would you mind telling me why you haven't come over here?"

"_Because that Summon took a lot out of me, the eyes to." _Jiraiya only then noticed that the purple eyes had been replaced again by natural cobalt-blue. _"I have enough chakra for one more jutsu though." _

"A jutsu that you haven't used yet."

The Arashi-clone shrugged before moving to stand up. Jiraiya forced his body to do much the same as he continued to follow the movement of the clone's lips. _"I want to show this one off, if you can believe it." _

"Well? Show it already, I can barely feel a thing."

The clone smirked before moving its hands to form the hand seal for the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu. In response four exact copies appeared beside him, two on each side, all sporting a mischievous and oddly disappointed smirk. _"This does not get back to Tsunade. Hāremu no Jutsu: Tsunade _(Ninja Harem: Tsunade)_!" _

The sight of four replica's of his blonde-pigtailed teammate only scantily covered by clouds was enough to send the perverted ninja into blissful unconsciousness by nosebleed.

Had he resisted he would have seen the Arashi-clone's smirk morph into one of intense pain as he clutched at his heart before being covered in an unstable blood red chakra shroud and fall face first to the ground.

* * *

><p>(Namikaze Clan Safehouse)<p>

Uchiha Itari was a woman who refused to show weakness of any kind while on a mission. And despite being in an entirely different dimension, with no known way to return to her own, she was still on a mission to capture her Nukenin of a former teammate, subordinate, fiancé, and an ex fellow ANBU Captain of a lover. She had succeeded and then been told that her entire family in this dimension consisted solely of her little brother and a male version of her whom had been the one to wipe out their entire Clan. Logically she knew that it shouldn't have been of any concern to her.

She tried to make herself believe that she was indifferent to the whole thing. That this was not her world, these were not her worries, and her little brother was not _here_ and alone. But that was the Shinobi arguing against the human sister that wanted to run off in search of her brother and punish this Itachi for his crimes. Itari was not certain what action she should take in regards to such matters and that was what worried her.

In a way it was she was thankful when Kisame broke into the room she had requisitioned for her own use while in the safe house. Or that was what she though until her partner told her that he was only a clone and that something disturbing was happening to Naruto. Anything that qualified as disturbing to Hoshigaki Kisame was something to truly fear.

Uchiha Itachi the Clan Killer, and Uchiha Sasuke, the brother and survivor could wait. She had been instructed to ensure the capture and escort Namikaze Naruto back to Konoha for trial by the Village Council unharmed and alive. As the woman who loved him she would do everything in her power to make sure that he was safe and unharmed. At the moment all she could do was fulfill her mission, and do it she would.

Itachi could wait as long as need be, and Sasuke should be old enough to handle himself a few days more.

Chap End

**AN: Sorry I haven't posted in close to two weeks. In my defense Niagara Falls is amazingly beautiful and something everyone should see in their lifetime if possible. I have never once felt smaller than when I was on the Maid of the Mist as she moved right by one of the falls. **

**I can't describe it in words. **

**Anyway expect this to be the last Naruto update for a few weeks at the least. I need to do some work on other fandoms or I will burn out on this. And honestly now that I have this out of the, the whole beginning, the ideas are just flowing through my head. **

**And yes, that is my reasoning behind why Mei is single. I find it much more hotter and preferable to many possibilities and since this is fiction I made it so. And I am really surprised that Jiraiya never once thought of asking Naruto to do what I had the Arashi-clone do in this chapter. I mean really, the Harem Jutsu and Tsunade? You'd think he'd have at least mentioned it before dying. **

**Any questions you have will be answered in review replys. Oh and before I forget….GIVE ME EIGHT REVIEWS AT LEAST! Seriously, help me break a hundred on this, please!**

**-SpartanCommando**


	10. Interlude 1

_**Chapter Ten:...I can't possibly justify any reason to even put something here. How sad is that?**_

**Special Thanks to DragonKnightRyu for being this story's beta reader.**

Disclaimer: I do not in any way shape or form own Naruto Shippuden, or anything unique to it. The show and manga are owned by Kishimoto-Massashi. I think I do own Namikaze Naruto though, or at least the one in this fiction since as of yet Naruto hasn't changed his name in the manga, and also Anko's snake summon. I do not own Uchiha Itari, both the name and her appearance belong to fellow author BigCC. The Fusion Sword belongs to the team who worked one FFVII: Advent Children and, just to be safe, Square Enix. Also, there may be parts of this story where I combine certain things from the English, and Japanese parts of Naruto.

"Normal Speech"

_Normal Thoughts_

'Human Speech' (Inside Mindscape)

'_Human Thought'_ (Inside Mindscape)

"_Lip Reading"_ (Not so often in this fic)

"_**Bijuu Speech"**_ (Outside Mindscape)

**-Bijuu Speech-** (Inside Mindscape)

'_**Bijuu Thought'**_

"**Summons Speech"** (With certain exceptions)

'**Summons Thoughts'** (With certain exceptions)

* * *

><p>"I can't believe that you're actually going through with this. I mean, really? Doesn't it seem just a tad childish?"<p>

"SHHH! You're one to talk you perverted toad!"

"You're just as perverted as I am punk!"

"Incorrect. I'm even _more_ perverted because I never pay. All my inspiration comes from one-hundred percent mutually consented instances."

"Ha! No one's more perverted than the Super Pervert!" A hand slapped the back of his head hard causing the owner of the voice to wince before clutching at the newly formed bump. "The Hell was that for?"

"Not being quiet! Aren't you supposed to be the Spymaster of Konohagakure?"

"Watch your tone."

"Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz."

Namikaze Arashi held up a hand as the snore reached his ears. He and Jiraiya of the Sannin had been released from the hospital three days after their major battle; after Arashi was forced to give Tsunade a detailed and totally honest answer regarding what happened to him that put him in a coma up until just hours earlier. Almost immediately after the pig-tailed Slug Princess left the room however the pair escaped their joint hospital room. Now three hours later the pair of powerful Shinobi was clinging to the ceiling of one of the other rooms by their feet. Beneath them, still forced to remain despite a lack of just cause in the pair's opinion, was the sleeping form of Uzumaki Naruto.

The younger blonde was currently sleeping in an extremely unflattering position; Naruto was hugging the pillow to himself with his rear raised up and a waterfall of drool running from his mouth. Arashi and Jiraiya shared a look before the cloned man then smirked a deviously that caused a shiver to run down the Sannin's spine. Seconds later the nightly silence that reigned in the halls of Konoha's main hospital was broken by a shrill yelp of shock followed by the boisterous laughter of two grown men.

From his own room in the hospital Kakashi was making the most of his sleepless night by catching up on Icha Icha Tactics. The Copy-Nin did not react when he heard the yelp or the laughter, but he zoned in on the sound. His head shut up suddenly and he looked with a single wide eye towards the door. Blinking once the Jonin shrugged before turning his attention back towards the pages of his prized book, "I had no idea Naruto even knew half of those words. Guess he didn't just learn Shinobi skills from Jiraiya-sama."

He turned the page and read the first paragraph before his eye shifted into its smile, "Clever girl." Suddenly the eye shot open with a panicked look as a random thought entered Kakashi's mind. Kakashi quickly closed the book before looking around the room and concentrated on detecting any nearby chakra sources. Sensing that he was alone for now Kakashi closed his eye before sighing in relief, "If Anko ever read that…"

Jiraiya freely admitted that perhaps he had been wrong about his earlier statement. Childish and weak though it may have been, he could not deny that the sight now before him was truly hilarious. Below him Naruto was sprawled on the hospital floor nursing the impressive bruise that encompassed the majority of his face courtesy of a bad landing. The Genin's spiky blonde hair was drooping lowly enough that it hid the teen's eyes from sight. Water dripped off the tips of his hair and ran in rivulets down the exposed skin of Naruto's arms and legs. The hospital gown was utterly ruined by the amount of liquid it had been forced to soak. A moment later saw the blonde Genin manage to support himself on his own two feet before then summoning a pair of clones and forming a Rasengan in his hands.

"All right show yourselves and quit laughing!" The soaking wet Uzumaki shouted loudly while taking a step in the direction of the door to his room. Rolling his eyes Jiraiya turned his to look at the other blonde only to see the cloned man drop from the ceiling and land on the wet gurney where Naruto had been seconds earlier resting peacefully.

Mockingly he then began jumping on the bed before responding after Naruto had speedily spun himself around, "What are you doing? I wanted to see you continue to threaten that terrible hospital door."

Electric blue eyes were wide with surprise before narrowing in anger as Naruto pointed an accusing finger at Arashi, "You-"

"Want to see Tenten and Yamanaka-hime mud wrestle before my eyes? Yes, yes I do."

"…What?"

Arashi stared at the younger blonde, his face radiating utter seriousness, for some time before opening his mouth, "I said 'I want to see Tenten and Yamanaka-hime-"

"I know what you said!" Naruto cried out before taking a step closer to the clone and raising his Rasengan up. "Don't talk about my friends in perverted ways like that!"

Arashi blinked and tilted his head to his left before realization dawned on him, "Oh yeah. The first time I met you and Yamanaka-hime I interrupted your attempts at getting on top. Maybe you want to be the one wrestling her instead? I understand that I suppose, I mean all that physical contact…"

Behind his damp hair Naruto's eyes were bulging out of their sockets and his mouth was agape as a prominent blush appeared on his face. Jiraiya chose at that time not to keep his presence a secret any longer and dropped from the ceiling himself to land next to the older, sort of given that it was a _clone_, blonde. "Good ideas aside I think the bigger question should be _why_ he decided we were outside the room if the balloon landed on the back of his skull."

"Huh, good point. Fishcake I am disappointed in you. Not looking up first is a mistake I expect of a new _Academy_ _Student_."

Naruto dispelled both clones and the Rasengan before then trying to slick his damp hair back up, "I was sleeping!"

"And if your immediate reaction is to yell at doors I feel bad for Yamanaka-hime when she decides to wake you up in her own way."

"Oh! Nice one!" Jiraiya chortled before fishing out his notepad and pen. Arashi saw this and quickly snatched the pad away before ripping it apart. "What the hell was that? I had three weeks' worth of research in that notepad!"

Arashi turned to glare at Jiraiya. "I said it first so I get dibs on using that."

"But it was my research!" The Toad Sannin cried out as tears streamed down the sides of his face in waterfalls.

Arashi shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly, "Not my problem."

"Why'd you guys wake me up anyways?" Both men turned to see an annoyed Naruto glaring at them somewhat sleepily as the adrenaline left his systems. "Well?"

They shared a look before Jiraiya nodded and opened his mouth to speak, "Tsunade-hime has an announcement that she wants us all to hear."

Curiosity shone in Naruto's eyes as he asked, "What does Baa-chan have to say?"

"No freaking clue," began the Sannin as Arashi climbed off the wet hospital bed. "If I had to guess though, I'd bet a thousand ryo that it has something to do with the punk here."

Arashi glared at the white-haired man before grinning widely, "Done." Jiraiya turned to look at him in confusion before the blonde added, "The bet. I'll take it."

"Deal," Jiraiya said offhandedly. He then blinked once before suddenly stiffening in fear. His eyes darted from the grinning Namikaze clone to the sleepy and soaked Uzumaki. While looking at the younger of the two he remembered the times when he had used his student's godly luck for his own gain during their training trip. Moving back to the clone Jiraiya glared at the younger man, "No. I have a feeling you're the opposite of Tsunade-hime when it comes to bets."

Arashi still grinned at the Sannin before turning to face Naruto. "It's four in the morning right now. The Hokage wants us at the tower in six hours."

"Then why the hell did you wake me up!" The still irate Naruto shouted before yawning.

"Because I knew it would piss you off? Oh wait, that's the reason for next week. How about we just say that it's a habit I picked up when I was younger than you that I decided you needed to learn, shall we?" Naruto was about to fire off a retort before a humming sound started up in the room. A second later and the teen was violently shivering as his teeth chattered loudly in the now air conditioned room. Arashi grinned at that, "Oh right! _That's_ why I woke you up when I did. Oh and Jiraiya, the bet is so on." With that said he exploded in a shower of water soaking both Jiraiya and Naruto.

Jiraiya wiped the water from his face with a displeased look while Naruto contemplated his odds at killing the Yondaime's son. At the same time outside the hospital Arashi was walking away chuckling, all the way praising himself for learning the Suiton Shunshin.

(The Namikaze Warehouse)

Namikaze Naruto stared at the bowl of ramen in his hands with a blank look. He poked at the noodles with a pair of chopsticks hesitantly before picking up a piece of meat. Bringing it up to his nose the man sniffed slowly before dropping it back into the bowl. Naruto sighed in disbelief as he set the bowl down on the table and then covered his face in his hands. He wore a sleeveless blue shirt and black pants.

"There a reason you aren't eating your breakfast kouhai?" Kisame asked from the other side of the table where he was devouring his own breakfast of sushi, still garbed in his armor. Samehada was behind him on the floor and sleeping off the chakra it gorged on days earlier.

Naruto looked between his fingers at the Hunter-nin as he thought of what to say. Closing his eyes the blonde decided to be blunt, "I'm unsure whether or not Itari poisoned my ramen."

An entire lobster was inches from Kisame's mouth before Naruto had finished his sentence. Lowering it down he looked at the blonde curiously, "Why? We already found you, you're in no condition to escape, and her orders are to bring you in alive. Now I understand that it might be difficult to do given where we are, but I know her enough to safely say that she would never quit on a mission just because getting back would be difficult."

Naruto lowered his gaze to the ramen with a forlorn look in his eyes. "She burns ramen."

The lobster's tail was already being set upon that time. Halfway through swallowing the appendage whole, savoring the buttery taste, Kisame started choking at the words. Spitting out the lobster whole Kisame looked at his eating companion in shock, "What did you say?"

"I said she burns ramen."

"…You must be pulling my leg here."

"No, she honestly cannot cook ramen at all."

Kisame stared shocked as he was processing the knowledge that Uchiha Itari _burned_ ramen. Then he started laughing at the thought that the famed Kunoichi had such a surprising fault.

Naruto looked fearfully at the man before throwing a small bottle of pepper at the blue man's nose. The bottle connected with a loud crunch followed by Kisame flailing around in shock before falling off his chair. The Kiri Swordsman twitched for several seconds before retaking his seat and narrowing shark-like eyes at his attacker. Blood dripped from his broken nose as the man brought up a hand and reset it quickly.

Meanwhile Naruto met his stare with one of equal intensity. Kisame took that as his cue to speak, "What was that?"

"That was me throwing a pepper shaker at you, Kisame-sempai."

"I know what the thing you threw at me was dammit! I want to know why."

Naruto sighed before resuming his course of action with the bowl of ramen. "Her inability to cook ramen is…A sore topic for Itari to say the least. I was only acting in your best interests."

Kisame blinked and then nodded his head in gratitude to the younger man. He was well aware of the fact that while Itari was accepting of the faults of others she was not such with her own. His time spent with her showed that the woman would get rather irritable, and an irritable Itari was not a pleasant person to be around for extended amounts of time. "All right then. I don't like how you handled it, but I can forgive that."

"Thanks."

Kisame waved him off, "Yeah, yeah. So what does my partner not being able to make ramen is keeping you from eating a bowl of the stuff."

Naruto did not take his eyes off the bowl as he responded, "I came in and found the bowl already on the table. And a note from her saying enjoy."

"I fail to see what the problem is."

"Are you not hearing me?" Naruto asked, generally curious. "Itari left me a bowl of ramen to eat. A bowl of ramen that she somehow managed to make when I know she can't."

"_She_ is now in the dining room," A feminine voice coolly said. Naruto winced at the veiled threat beneath the statement. Kisame on the other hand blew out a breath of air and moved to get off the chair when Itari shot him a look. "We have much to discuss Kisame. With the target now awake it is time to plan our next steps."

The Uchiha woman walked past the Namikaze and took a seat next to her partner swiftly. As she walked by him Naruto had taken notice of the miniscule tensing of her jaw and neck. Signs of a yawn suppressed before it had been released. Her ponytail, which looked to have been cut recently, had hairs sticking out of place at random intervals. Her walk also seemed to be more rigid than he was used to seeing in her.

Naruto looked directly at her and spoke the moment she was seated, "You slept in your armor."

Itari responded without a moments wait, "Yes. And you slept the night wrapped in blankets in a semi-comatose state."

Kisame leaned back in his own chair to better watch the show. He'd only been there to witness these confrontations between the lovers twice and both times it had been top quality entertainment rivaled only by the live action Icha Icha productions. The blue skinned Kirigakure Shinobi grinned thinly.

"Difference. I had no choice in my case, you did. So why did you?" Naruto questioned.

Itari narrowed her eyes somewhat before speaking, "Sleep is a luxury I do not indulge in while in unfamiliar territory. Unfamiliar territory we all find ourselves in because of your actions."

Naruto did not miss the unspoken 'baka' Itari had chosen to leave out. "Unless I'm mistaken then you were nowhere near the immediate area of my trap when it went off. I was the only one supposed to be sucked in with Madara."

"You made a reckless and foolish decision then. From what little I do know of the Sealing Arts, I was under the assumption that when combined with Jutsu the results are highly unpredictable." Itari said icily, a glare accompanying it. "Your trap revolved around combining Fūinjutsu with not one, but two, different SpaceTime Ninjutsu. One of which you knew nothing about, as it was a secret of the old Uchiha long forgotten."

"You don't hear me saying you're wrong, so please continue on with you lecture." Naruto told the woman, already knowing where she was going.

Itari seemed to know that her fiancé had picked up on this as well, because she allowed a frown to mar her otherwise emotionless face, "Why then? You could have killed us all or destroyed half the continent, and I know you enough to say that you were not unaware of this yourself."

Kisame raised an eyebrow at that. Whenever Fūinjutsu was ever brought up he always wound up lost and in dire need of a drink to soothe his eventual headache. Naruto was the one to narrow his eyes into near slits at the Uchiha's words, "Would there have been much point in simply living if your ancestor was still around? Let us not forget my dear Itari, that he was _killing _us there. Suna and Kumo had nearly two-fifths of their combined man power destroyed courtesy of the lesser Villages by the time their threat was even taken seriously. The Tsuchikage's body was only just beginning to cool as Iwa looked like it was on the brink of civil war. Not to mention how Kiri and Konoha wound up separated. Was there even a reason _not _to do something that was almost certain to get rid of your ancestor, even if the odds were likely we'd all have been killed?"

"I can think of one," Itari retorted almost heatedly. "The tide of this new war could have easily been tipped back in our favor if you simply rejoined with Konoha. The Akatsuki would listen to you and eventually fall in line with us. The combined might of the organization as well as the neutral Ame would have been invaluable."

"Right," Naruto started sarcastically as a mirthless smile tugged at his lips. "An organization of missing S-Rank Shinobi from across the Elemental Nations, whose sole protection was Ame's neutrality might I add, willingly coming to the aid of one of the Great Five? That is surprisingly wishful thinking coming from you." Itari's eyes widened as a look of genuine shock crossed her face. "I thought you were pragmatic enough to know that it is in Ame's best interests to stay off of anyone's side. When the war ends they'll almost certainly be the new dominant power in the Shionbi world."

Itari remained silent for several seconds as a look of disappointment came across her face before being replaced by her emotionless mask. "So it is now 'wishful thinking' Naruto, to want a war to come to a swift conclusion with minimal loss for one's people?"

"…No. It's just not possible back home."

"I remember a time, back when your father was still Hokage, when you once said that the right people could make anything possible."

"Back then, the man who could have prevented this new war was still _alive_. And I was not a traitor."

"No. You are simply much too afraid to ask for forgiveness."

Naruto merely tilted his head and shrugged his shoulders. A tired look crossed his features as one of his hands moved to grip the fabric above his shirt. "The past cannot be changed by anyone. So there is nothing to be forgiven. And that is what I hate."

A coughing fit interrupted the increasingly somber tone of the dining hall. Both the Uchiha and Namikaze turned to look at Kisame who looked to be a darker shade of blue. The Kiri-nin was thumping his chest before jumping out of his chair and stepping on the bandaged Samehada. While the sentient sword screeched in pain and began flopping on the floor Kisame was overturning the cabinets. Naruto blinked in confusion while Itari quirked an eyebrow at her partners' actions. Amidst the frantic actions of Kisame the pair at the table looked towards the spot on the table he had just been.

A bowl of ramen inhabited the space beside the mauled remains of Kisame's lobster. Naruto looked down to where he had left his bowl of ramen and was not surprised to see it missing. At the same time Kisame gave a muffled sound of victory as he found a bottle of unopened sake. In the blink of an eye the Swordsman was chugging the entire bottle down. Naruto stared slack jawed back at Itari who was staring back at him, an impassive look on her face. The Namikaze closed his mouth before opening it again, "I did not actually think you'd try and poison me."

A brief but still noticeable look of anger glinted in her eyes. Itari slowly slid a slip of paper across the table to him. Picking up the note Naruto's eyes glanced over the slip as Itari responded, "It was Kushina's recipe."

"…This looks a lot like mom's _prank_ recipe."

"Some prank!" Kisame half-shouted before placing a hand to his throat and coughing once again. The man brought the bottle of sake to his lips before finishing the remaining contents. He threw the bottle into a pile of trash, which looked to be fossilized years earlier, before wiping his lips with a black fingerless gloved hand. "That ramen burned more going down than that Lightning Water I got off of that Kumo team a year back."

Itari did not take her gaze off of Naruto's form. She had seen how fast the man had moods and felt troubled because of it. Naruto had always been one for rapid change in personalities, a quality that had been handy in the mental straining ANBU environment, but the transitioning was more fluid than what she had just paid witness. The change from weariness to surprise appeared to lack that same fluidity. It was a small detail, and Itari could not say she was not imagining it, but still one that she would not ignore. Her deep knowledge of him made her suspect that Naruto was hiding something from her.

So be it. If Naruto wanted to keep a secret from her then she would do the same with him. Without warning Naruto went still and his pupils dialated. The Namikaze blinked once and shook his head vigorously in a manner reminiscent of wet dog. Putting a hand he tapped his chin in a thoughtful way and generally seemed to ignore Itari and Kisame. "I am going to need my scrolls and find the bank information now."

"You intend to leave?" Itari questioned him as she stood up from the table. Kisame walked up to her side before bending down to pick up Samehada. With practiced ease the Kiri Swordsman hoisted the massive sword to his back and channeled chakra up and down his spine. Samehada made a disturbing purring sound as it stuck itself to Kisame's back.

A single cobalt-blue eye turned to look at them followed by the rest of Naruto's body. He smirked thinly at the pair before leaning towards them in a conspiratorial manner. "_You_ will both fail and succeed in your mission."

Kisame turned his head to look down at his partner and silently asking her for an explanation. Itari promptly complied with the request, "Konoha."

"Nailed it!" Exclaimed the blonde Namikaze and vanished in a puff of smoke. Itari remained silent for several seconds until she herself shunshined. Left alone Kisame crossed both arms across his chest and shook his head. He sighed before mumbling silently, "Because I _know_ she wanted to do that. I am such a nice partner, don't you think?" Samehada gurgled something incoherently. "At least I know you'll always have my back buddy."

* * *

><p><strong><em>AN: Feels like months since I last updated this. Don't like that honestly. I apologize for the lateness and lack of any updates. Blame any number of the following.<em>**

**_'Senioritis' and the headaches that are Job Applications and University Applications. Then theres the whole breakup thing with my girlfirend. That sucked sooo much. Bleh. Stupid abroad scholarly oppurtunities...Actually take that back. I'm happy that she actually went after an oppurtunity to study out of country. Maybe we can pick the relationship up in two years when she comes back from Europe. Why am I talking to you guys/gals about my relationship problems anyway? Pft, right, venting. _**

**_On the brightside I am now the XO for my Schools NJROTC and have a good chance of going to College/University with little to no tuition paid on my parents part. Thank you numerous-benefits-that-I-will-not-get-into-that-I-qualify-for. OH! I bought my first car last month:) Granted I can't drive it yet because I failed Drivers Ed last year and don't have a licence...The point is I have a C-A-R! That is freaking awsome!_**

**_Onto the real deal. Everything going on right now is causing major writers block. I basically just posted this up today so you guys/gals(sorry for almost forgetting you) don't get into your heads that I've abandoned this fiction. I'll try and get back in the groove of updates by the holiday season hopefully. Really all I'm lacking is inspiration. And that mainly comes from two sources. Source 1: The English Dub of Shippuden. I know I can watch the series in Japanese, which I have mostly, but I find it easier to get ideas when I don't have to divide my time between reading subtitles and watching the action. Source 2: Other Naruto Fics that I've taken an intrest in. So...Anyone who has a Naruto story here that I may have either left a review on, favorited, put an alert on, etc...Yeah, if you like what I'm doing here and since I like what you're doing(_YOU _know who you are, even if it was only from a stupid little email alert you still know) how about we work together here. I update more if you can update more. Fair deal eh?_**

**_Chapter 559 of the Manga. Holy Shit. That's really all I can say. No offence to the people who fear the Sharingan is getting too much focus or whatever, I refuse to hear you say that you were not the least surprised to see what happened with it this time. In addition this gives me a few ideas. (Evil Grin) _**

**_I'll be leaving this in a few seconds guys. Before I do though, let me leave you with some forgiveness-seeking inspired semi-spoilers for where this is going. Obito. Rin. Kakashi+Anko=. Socially awkward apprentices. Madara vs Madara. Movies. Tobi is always surprising. Okay so that last one isn't really anything special._**

**_Lastly. To my-threesome...Everyone else who liked this chapter thank this person. I updated today because of my most recent review before posting this chapter. Oh, surprisingly you guys/gals really seem to like Namikaze Naruto. I'm seriously surprised by this. I never expected you guys to take such an interest in what basically amounts to a semi-OC. Not complaining though. It feels nice. _**


	11. New Problems Already?

_**Chapter Eleven: The Big Arrival! Er, sort of. The extra-dimensional trio arrives in Konoha and has an official meeting with the Hokage. The aftermath of N Naruto, Itari, and Alt Kisame's disappearance is revealed. The bet made by Arashi and Jiraiya comes to an end. Meanwhile, something unnatural is going on with Akatsuki's secret leader. **_

**Special Thanks to DragonKnightRyu for being this story's beta reader.**

Disclaimer: I do not in any way shape or form own Naruto Shippuden, or anything unique to it. The show and manga are owned by Kishimoto-Massashi. I think I do own Namikaze Naruto though, or at least the one in this fiction since as of yet Naruto hasn't changed his name in the manga, and also Anko's snake summon. Tanshin is also one of my creations, along with some jutsu I made up. I do not own Uchiha Itari, both the name and her appearance belong to fellow author BigCC. The Fusion Sword belongs to the team who worked one FFVII: Advent Children and, just to be safe, Square Enix. Also, there may be parts of this story where I combine certain things from the English, and Japanese parts of Naruto.

"Normal Speech"

_Normal Thoughts_

'Human Speech' (Inside Mindscape)

'_Human Thought'_(Inside Mindscape)

"_Lip Reading"_(Not so often in this fic)

"_**Bijuu Speech"**_(Outside Mindscape)

**-Bijuu Speech-**(Inside Mindscape)

'_**Bijuu Thought'**_

"**Summons Speech"**(With certain exceptions)

'**Summons Thoughts'** (With certain exceptions)

* * *

><p><em>Alternate Shinobi Dimension: Amegakure Apartment<em>

A light bulb hanging from the center of a room's ceiling flickered rapidly alongside a series of muffled curses before going dark. Distantly the far off sound of an explosion was heard followed by a mild rattling of the entire room. The door to the room swung open as a tall male figure walked in, stopping only to turn off the lights in the hallway behind him before a closer explosion was felt and the lights flickered out. In total darkness he turned in the dark and looked around the room he had stepped in. A leather gloved hand ran through gravity defying violet spiky hair as the other arm maneuvered to secure a better grip on a collection of scrolls. Heaving a sigh the figure walked over to the nearest table, stepping over a sleeping mass along the way, before setting the scrolls down.

Spreading them out all over the table he trailed a single hand over the seals keeping their knowledge hidden. Mumbling about the lack of lighting his gaze went back towards the room's single light. The man focused heavily in the direction and felt the prickle of static dance around his entire body and crackle lowly within the room. Seconds later the light began to flicker with life once again before it fully illuminated the room. Tilting his head in satisfaction his focus dropped, leaving behind the statically-charged air and the faint scent of ozone to permeate the room.

The man wore a tattered brown cloak which looked ready to fall away on its own any second. Beneath that was a curiously colored orange and green Konoha flak jacket which was left unzipped. Unlike the standard jumpsuit commonly worn by experienced Shinobi of his village he had on a jumpsuit made of reptilian-scales underneath the jacket which caught off at the elbow. His left and right forearms prominently displayed a tattoo of the kanji symbol for sixth and alligator respectively. Wrapped around his waist was a gray sash where seven sharp blades were hooked. The blades themselves resembled kunai in the way a katana did a ninjato. Unlike a normal kunai the blade was two inches longer with the hilt missing the ring and replaced with a curved blade.

He wore a green cloth facemask and his hitai-ate was placed in a collar like position around his neck tied at the back by white cloth. Light danced across brown eyes as they darkened in annoyance. His dark violet colored hair seemed to grow even spikier in the shadow over the table. The skin that was visible appeared to be utterly flawless in complexion, aside from what lay hidden by several reddened bandages and bruises, and perfectly tanned from time spent constantly moving outside civilized areas.

The man was about to open up the nearest scroll when his body became still. He felt claws dig into the leather of his right pant leg as the mass from earlier climbed up his body. The claws came to a stop on his back when the head of a well sized brown orange-stripped lizard planted itself on the same shoulder as the leg it had first came in contact with. His head turned a fraction to the side and stared into a pair of eyes constantly changing color. The lizard bobbed its head as it hissed something out.

After rolling his eyes the figure shot the lizard an amused look before speaking. "I did not bring you any rare frogs this time." He watched as the lizard's head fell back on his shoulder and it let out a pitiful sound that bordered on a whine. "If I always brought you presents then you'd be spoiled, and that is something that will probably force me to kick you out. Now please stop with the reptile speech would you? I'm not in the mood to translate in my head right now."

The eyes of the lizard settled on a milky blue color as the creature glared up at him. "You would never do that. If you did no one would ever watch over this mess of a house for you, Tanshin."

Shrugging his free shoulder Hatake Tanshin continued to stare down his lizard while opening up the scroll. "You know that isn't really much of a reason considering just where we are, so having someone watch over it is going to be a moot point soon my, future leather belt."

"Bite me."

"No thanks. I don't know where you've been in this place since I left this morning Yamori."

"You wouldn't have to worry about that if you took the damned time to actually clean anything around here!" The reptile retorted heatedly before flicking his tongue at Tanshin. The Hatake snorted at Yamori's apparently ridiculous statement. Tanshin gestured with a tilt of the head down to the table and watched as Yamori's tongue retracted back into his mouth. He watched the lizard climb over his shoulder and down his flak jacket before jumping onto the table. A single scroll by the edge slipped off before being immediately caught by Tanshin.

"Careful when you do that. These things are not easy to come by."

Yamori rounded on him before flicking his long whip-like tail to wrap around another scroll that also looked ready to fall off the side. Setting the scroll in a more secure position the reptile curled the tail behind his hind legs and used it to move up onto two legs. The meter long lizard linked two large front claws together in the way a human would cross their arms while opening his mouth to speak, "I am going to make the assumption that these are your…_special _scrolls, correct?"

"They are."

"Then today is the day?"

"If I wait any longer to use them I risk being caught early. All the waiting I've done to prepare will have been wasted effort otherwise."

Yamori's eyes shifted into a scarlet color before the lizard dropped down to four legs again. He thumped a scroll directly in front of him with his nose so that it rolled to Tanshin. Looking back at the eyes of the young Hatake he raised his tail up before thumping it back down hard. That was as close as the lizard could get to offering an encouraging smile before it disappeared in a puff of smoke. A smaller scroll was left behind in his place before being put away by the man.

Tanshin looked around the room and took everything in…Which meant the always annoying light, the door, and the chipping blue wall paint. The room was not meant to be aesthetically pleasing or comfortable, so placing decorations in it would have been too much wasted time and pointless effort. This was after all just a safe house located in the eastern sector of Amegakure. Sure given his rank Tanshin could have requested an apartment in one of the villages many skyscrapers, but considering that as of that day only a fourth were left standing he felt that he had made the proper accommodations.

The Hatake man closed his eyes and heaved a heavy sigh. If everything went as he had carefully planned them then he would not be seeing his home for quite some time. That was alright with him. Before he and a detachment of Konoha Ninja had left to reinforce their new allies in Ame Tanshin had made sure to…Ensure some closure. He'd spent time with his elder sister, sparred with his mother, and even had a _tame _conversation with his father. And then the last few hours of time well spent in the company of Tenten. Tanshin made sure that they had no idea of his plans though. The certainty that anyone of them, even his own father, would stop him from going through with his designs would make telling them the stupidest blunder he could make.

Not that he could possibly find a way to blame any of them for their predictable responses. Tanshin was legitimately recognized as the successor to Jiraiya, and as such held the title of Rokudaime Hokage Kōho. The position itself was not one that the young man would have chosen for himself. He knew full well that there were other Konoha ninja that many thought should have the title in his stead. Tanshin would not refute the claims at all, as he had met many more intelligent or powerful than him. And whenever Jiraiya would have him sit in on Council Meetings, Tanshin was well aware of just who the Hokage honestly wanted at his side.

Namikaze Naruto, Uchiha Itari, his sister Hatake Shinyou, and even Nara Shikamaru, were all first rate Shinobi in Tanshin's mind; each one easily just as if not more deserving of becoming Hokage than him. Unfortunately of the short list none were practical at the time. Naruto was a labeled Missing-Nin for nearly eight years now, and was presumed dead along with his fiancé Itari eight months earlier. Shinyou had taken after their father in her steadfast resolve to avoid the title under any circumstance. Shikamaru was…Too unmotivated to properly lead Konohagakure, although that did not stop Tanshin from nominating the man as a potential adviser once he became the actual Rokudaime.

The raging Fourth Shinobi War also factored heavily into his rise in station. Three months into the war the sole heir to the Namikaze Clan, the son of the Yellow Flash, and the heiress to the Uchiha Clan, were officially listed as KIA. With that action Konoha's standing in the eyes of many had plummeted. The deaths of the heirs to two of the most powerful clans residing within the Village had resulted in several once neutral villages rising up in open hostility. Traitor or not, Naruto had been known to be just a step below his father in terms of skill and power, and it had been leaked by Orochimaru that he was the Jinchuriki of the Kyubi no Kitsune. The mere possibility that he could one day return to Konoha's military was enough to subdue many factions in the world where Konoha was involved. Itari was also well known for her speedy rise in the ANBU Black Ops, becoming Captain-Commander of the entire unit at seventeen all the while well known for her total mastery of the Sharingan.

Simply put while Konoha had not suffered a major blow to its strength compared to the rest of its forces, the reputation and image that had been indicative of their power was fractured. Five months earlier, and the war reaching its high point thus far, it was obvious that a new statement needed to be made. That was where Tanshin came in. As first son of the world known Copy-Nin, and grandson of the White Fang, he was of very good stock when it came to lineage and the shear reputation of his name. Then his abilities were added on to his family reputation; namely the dojutsu he openly detested using, and made a point of not using, and his unique Kinton Jutsu. The truth of the matter was that he was merely a show of force on his home's part, chosen for what he was born with and not achieved with his own two hands.

Tanshin was actually happy with just his Kinton. He was the first user of the elemental kekkei genkai, which involved him combining his Raiton, Katon, and Doton affinities to manipulate, and to some extent create, metal in any form. He rarely used any of his normal affinities as he preferred his Kinton to complement his tendency towards kenjutsu and taijutsu. He'd been effective with that on his own and even earned several different names in the bingo books of several nations. His favorite was "Green Switchblade", which had nothing at all to do with the color of his metal, but "Steel Blood" was a close second. And then once he became known amongst the larger powers that be the comparisons between him and his father, which had always been present in some way or another, had risen to new found heights and made his goal of stepping out of Hatake Kakashi's shadow seem even farther away than ever before.

In the end none of this mattered at all. He was, in his eyes, a fake and a well-polished trophy. All the symbolism purposely set out to attract attention, but devoid of the actual worth. The thought birthed a flash of anger which he quickly quashed. He did not want to be the statement of anything; he wanted to be the substance. This was why he had originally agreed to come to Ame weeks earlier under the pretense of establishing a new alliance. It was to keep him out of sight from anyone with an interest in putting a halt to his plans to earn his position.

He sensed a sizable rise in chakra appear just outside the door. With an idea of just who was behind it Tanshin called out, "Come in to talk or die. I'm not in a picky mood right now."

The door swung open to reveal a single Ame Shinobi both roughly his father's age. The man, who smiled thinly at Tanshin with a sliver of self-loathing glinting behind his eyes, had unruly orange hair in a style similar to the Namikaze men he had met. In addition the man had reddened eyes, bags beneath said eyes, looked to have gone days without any bath or shower, and had blue eyes. He wore a crimson colored cloak with black clouds and was pale skinned, a result of living under the perpetually cloudy sky above the majority of his nation's new capital city.

Tanshin saw the small smile turn into a grim line as the man's face became deathly serious. Mumei Yahiko was a man who could do things that many claimed to be nothing more than wishful thinking. Whether by divine providence, the will of fate, or his own skill, Yahiko had turned Amegakure into a powerhouse capable of matching anyone of the Five Great Shinobi Villages. Adding on to this was the power he had garnered after taking power from the official Daimyo of Ame's surrounding nation, becoming the new Daimyo himself and making Ame the first Shinobi Village to double as the capital of one of the Elemental Nations.

Both of these accomplishments should have been near impossible to achieve and, in the event it actually occurred, logically should've lasted less than a decade before being destroyed by infighting. Yet it was undeniable the man standing before Tanshin was truly gifted as it had been close to twenty years since his coming to power. Yahiko's influence was great enough that he was able to openly harbor any Nukenin who swore loyalty to him, something only allowed by the other Villages due to the worthless bloodshed that would result in any war fought on the grounds of capturing traitors. He was a man who Tanshin both admired and respected.

"So often is it that a human being can find the time to be as limited as you, Tanshin, that they must choose whether to speak or perish," Spoke the _unofficial _Kage Daimyo of Amegakure. He closed the distance between them fast enough and looked up to lock eyes with the younger man. Tanshin was after all between his father and Jiraiya in height. "The situation is not looking well for my home."

Tanshin snorted at the words, "Ame is going to hell." Still, admiration and respect were no reason not to talk to him like he would any other person. He had always been, and strove to always be, very blunt in his choice of words from the moment he could form coherent sentences.

Yahiko narrowed his blue eyes at Tanshin, "Always painfully honest, aren't you? Can you even bother trying to alleviate my down mood? I'm supposed to be chipper and project an aura of certainty and calm. Kami knows that both have been lacking these past two weeks."

The Hatake male waited for the sound of another explosion was heard before responding, "I could have, but then we would have heard that and any progress I made would be negated. I hate wasted effort you know. Besides, this morning I heard that they still had just under ten-thousand Shinobi to your available four and the small escort I brought with me. The difference probably hasn't changed in our favor very much." Then he gestured to the table and the scrolls atop it, "I've finished up my research, if you were about to ask. All that is left to know if they'll work is an actual test."

"Something which will happen within the day I'm sure." Yahiko dryly said before tossing the younger man an unsealed scroll. Tanshin quickly pulled it open and saw that it was a freshly drawn up map of the land surrounding Amegakure along with the village itself. What he first noticed were the actual lines separating the areas the territory still under Yahiko's control, and those the attacking Shinobi Alliance had broken into and stolen from him. The situation overall looked like it had literally gone to hell; if he was reading the map right, which he unfortunately was.

Tanshin moved the map away from his face as Yahiko spoke up, "The enemy force has launched a four way assault. The northern, eastern, and southern most defensive lines are under assault by thousands of primarily Genin and low Chunin level Shinobi. I have members of the Akatsuki spread out between these three to ease the pressure on the fronts. However, several hundred various higher level ninja led the attack of another larger force and broke the western line before I could sufficiently reinforce it. My men along the line were able to contain the majority of this assault before they were pushed too far back, but not before dozens of hostile Jonin had spread out across the village."

"Most of Ame's Shinobi are out holding up the Alliance surrounding the village. But as you know full well, they have the numbers to ensure that at least a dozen teams make it past your forces every day. All that is left in the village now are the teams aiding in the civilian evacuations, and the few hundred you've kept in reserve." Tanshin could see the problem right away. While the Shinobi Alliance threw their cannon fodder to three sections of Ame's defensive lines their most experienced members would break through the fourth. These elites would force their way past the defenders who would have time only to hold back the tidal wave that followed. Once within Ame itself these forces would scatter across the village and wreak havoc amongst the Ame Shinobi in numerous ways. Holding up reserve forces would be one priority, allowing their more numerous allies to overwhelm one or more of the other lines, or simply outflanking the defenders at one point.

"Nagato and I ordered the remains of our reserve units to scatter and hunt down these smaller groups." Yahiko continued once he saw the understanding in Tanshin's brown orbs, "Nagato himself is leading them in the search as well and so far we've kept our enemy from reaching any major installations or strike at the rest of our engaged units."

"And the civilian evacuation is still underway, which means Konan along with the bulk of your top Shinobi are not going to be able to assist in any way for several more hours at the very least." Tanshin interrupted while he placed the scrolls into a pouch strapped to his back. "Despite all of that however, we can both plainly see that there is an obscure but appealing opportunity here."

Yahiko's thin smile returned, but this time it carried a tint of bloodlust and well contained rage, "If you happen to be suggesting we use this to annihilate a significant amount of their top fighters? Then yes, I suppose we both found a proverbial diamond in the rocks. Unless I'm mistaken, your personal force is still fresh and whole?"

Tanshin nodded, "If you know where the biggest concentration of the Alliance Elite are, then I have a plan to take them out quickly."

"That is good to hear. Once the final evacuation is complete Konan and her division will rejoin the battle. If we can make sure that the Alliance division loses their best here and now, then I can begin a counter-attack. A two-to-one fight where the one is of superior quality gives us a chance at breaking this week-long siege."

"And then begin securing the borders along Kaze no Kuni and cutting the Alliance Division there from reinforcements and trapping them." Tanshin interjected mildly. That was the whole purpose behind him being in Ame actually. With Iwa unable to muster up enough Shinobi to do actively go on the offensive, courtesy of their inability to name a new Tsuchikage, the Alliance had cut across Tsuchi no Kuni and launch an offensive along the entire Northwest of Kaze no Kuni. With Suna's military strength weakened in the initial surprise attack they could not afford to send out large enough bodies of troops to beat down the Alliance without leaving itself open to additional attacks.

Hence, the need of Konoha to earn the favor of Ame's great leader. Given Ame's position it was the perfect path to have open for any relief sent to Suna by Konoha. All that was needed was for Ame to provide the resistance needed to halt additional Alliance advances and to put pressure on Kusa, Tani, and Ishi. With the immediate attention of three Shinobi Villages on Ame the time would be right for Konoha to launch a single division to link up with whatever Suna had to spare and engage the enemy division in Kaze no Kuni.

If everything worked out then the division would be gone within two months and Suna would be able to work in conjunction with Konoha and Ame to crush the three villages between them and turn their focus to aiding Kiri and Kumo. Not to mention the added benefits of Konoha taking much of the influence held by the minor villages in the area along the way. Were that to happen then the weak Suna would have no choice but to kowtow to Konoha for some time before they were capable of standing on its own. Ame valued its neutrality so much that so long as Tanshin's home to no action against them there would be no danger from the smaller village.

Yahiko scowled at Tanshin's words before nodding tersely. "Ame is surrounded by three openly hostile powers now. If I can do anything to lower that number, I will make sure we do our part of the treaty."

"Excellent." Tanshin finished simply before tossing the map back at Yahiko. "Now, was Nagato by any chance using the rain to track the enemy's movements?"

(STNM)

_Uzumaki's Dimension: Konohagakure, Hokage Mansion_

"So, you're the real Namikaze Naruto then? Or are you just another one of those special clones?" Tsunade asked the nearest of the newly arrived trio. Outside they could see the early morning come into view above the just waking village. The Arashi clone had drawn up a complex sealing array within one of the tower's many rooms. A few hand seals and ten minutes later, a crimson flash had filled the room before revealing a trio of ninja. After this the clone simply vanished off to some other unannounced place. Now standing with the sun to her back Tsunade observed the three strangers.

The one wearing the crow's mask looked to have become even more rigid in her stance after hearing the Hokage's words. At the same time the blonde haired man sighed in resignation before answering Tsunade, "Yes. I am the man who originally made contact with the team led by Maito Gai."

"Take a seat then," Tsunade ordered as she seated herself behind the desk. The Namikaze followed suit and took one of the two seats opposite to the Hokage. After a brief moment of silence Tsunade placed her hands together before shooting a look towards the other two behind him. "I want the names for the two of them, as well as a reason for why an ANBU Captain is in the company of a Kiri Swordsman and Hunter-nin."

The woman decided to answer the question herself instead of letting the Namikaze do it. Ignoring the surprised look from him the female ANBU removed the crow's mask from her face. Tsunade allowed her eyes to widen marginally in surprise at seeing a living Uchiha woman. The woman bowed her head before speaking, "Uchiha Itari, Heir to the Uchiha Clan, and former Captain-Commander of the ANBU Black Ops Division. The man standing beside me is Hoshigaki Kisame. We were partnered to hunt down and bring in to custody the S-Ranked traitor of Konoha, Namikaze Naruto."

The blonde woman's gaze lingered on the pair a moment longer before shifting towards the serious looking blonde male. "S-Ranked? Your clone mentioned that you were an ANBU Captain, but if your Konoha rates Shinobi like we do that would make you an A-Rank. What did you do to boost yourself up in that ladder?"

"…I killed three Konoha ninja sent after me in the first four years after abandoning the village."

"As well as mortally-wounding a full two dozen additional Shinobi and Kunoichi," Added Itari who frowned as the words left her mouth. Her eyes drifted on to the back of the blonde man who had sat up straighter after his admission. "Jiraiya-sama, our Godaime Hokage, had no choice but to treat him as a top level threat to the safety of the village."

"You're not going to say anything in your defense?" Questioned Tsunade while carefully watching the man's reactions, or lack of actually. The most she could see was a look of regret and disgust in his eyes before he shrugged his shoulders.

"Why? I did all of it, and nothing can excuse my actions. Madness, reaction, self-defense, bloodlust…They do not change the results, and I am not asking you to ignore them." The man said with an unemotional voice. His cobalt eyes closed for a moment before opening back to look towards the Hokage Monument. "Besides, my crimes are not what I planned on talking about."

"What were you planning on talking about?"

"Why is it that my younger-self is unaware of anything regarding his heritage?" He asked, almost harshly.

"Tsunade-sama, I am curious about this as well." Itari added from her position behind the Namikaze. "I am certain that Hatake-sensei mentioned in his report to you the encounter between his team, myself, and one Uchiha Itachi. The younger man on the team bore more than just a passing resemblance to Namikaze-san."

"That is an odd way to refer to your fiancé girl," Tsunade spoke, somewhat surprised by the young woman's choice of wording. Nevertheless she did not allow her attention to remain focused on that topic for long. "And to answer your question, allow me to ask you one of my own."

"Ask away." Was the flippant reply from the seated Namikaze.

"The last major war your Konoha fought…What was the difference in percentage of forces by the end of it?"

"According to the records, the village suffered over a thirty percent decrease in manpower and strength by the end of the previous war. That included any new Genin who graduated during that time." Itari answered within the span of two heartbeats.

Tsunade almost snorted as she heard the figure before adopting a more somber tone, "By the end of the Third Shinobi War, Konoha had lost close to that many of its Chunin to Jonin population alone. Then, just months after the war's end the Kyuubi threw itself against our walls. Close to three hundred Shinobi and Kunoichi died during that battle, the majority being our oldest and most experienced."

She could see that the attention of both the ANBU and ex-ANBU were firmly fixated on her. Taking a short breath, the Godaime Hokage began again. "And of course, there was the death of my predecessor and the defection of one of my teammates. A year after ending one war Konoha was down to just under sixty percent of its pre-war force, and most of that were ordinary Chunin. From what I found out from notes left by my sensei, it was all he could do to keep up a strong image of our village's strength. A cold war started up soon after he retook the Hat and the only reason it did not escalate into a full blown war was the lack of incentive amongst our rivals, especially in Iwagakure."

"And the Sandaime thought," The Namikaze began slowly as he imagined a map of the political situation at the time. "Iwa was only being quiet because my father was dead. If Ōnoki is still the reigning Tsuchikage, then they'd probably decided they could afford the wait needed to build up their forces before moving in to try and crush it once again. Am I correct in the Old Man's train of thought?"

"Yes. You picked up on that fairly quickly. How well did you know him?"

"I knew him, period. I spent much more time with Danzo, something I'm certain Kakashi, Gai, or even that Hyuuga guy mentioned in their reports."

"Right, how could I forget that?" Tsunade muttered lowly. She mentally began considering whether or not to put a watch on Danzo and the Namikaze. The Hokage highly doubted either would tell her if they were in contact or not. "And Ōnoki is still leading Iwa, if you're curious. Sarutobi-sensei wrote that almost word for word in his notes. He feared Iwa's hate for you family greatly, and more so what that hate could drive them to. Many of them actually celebrate the Kyuubi attack to this day; that should show you how much they hated your family. Revealing Naruto's heritage was something which he feared could tip the kunai thin peace of those early years."

The Namikaze went silent as he thought on Tsunade's words. Seeing that he would be like that for some bit of time, Itari made the decision to bring up another point. "Tsunade-sama?"

"What is it?" Tsunade asked as she met the Uchiha's eyes.

"I would like to know the whereabouts of Uchiha Sasuke, if at all possible."

"Uchiha Sasuke…" The blonde haired woman said slowly, mulling over a way to answer. Looking back at Itari she came to the decision that a straightforward answer would be best. "Abandoned the village close to three years ago, joining Otogakure a village created by Orochimaru sometime ago."

Tsunade watched as both the non-Akatsuki Kisame, and the Namikaze both looked at a now wide eyed Itari. The young woman's arms hung limply at her sides, her mask dangling by her fingertips, and mouth slightly agape. It was an unusual sight for the Hokage to see. Members of the Uchiha Clan rarely allowed emotion to so plainly color their faces. The look of surprise was soon covered up by the emotionless mask that many associated with the young woman's clan. Still, there was a faint tremor in her voice when she spoke again. "Thank you for being honest, Tsunade-sama."

"Itari…"The Namikaze started out uncertainly before trailing off into silence.

"Focus on your family troubles Namikaze, and leave me to dwell on my own." She turned to leave the room before pausing to look over her shoulder at the two men in the room, "Do not follow me, either of you. I have business to attend to alone." And then she shunshined away.

The rare harshness in her speech effectively halted whatever the Namikaze had intended to say. With a final concerned look he forcibly turned to face Tsunade yet again. "I want to tell him about his family immediately. But, I have to remember that he isn't me. We may have the same parents, the same blood, and other similarities, but we are not the same person. I know where Jiraiya stands, and now I know where the Sandaime stood. Do you think he's ready to know at this moment?"

Tsunade thought about everything she knew about Naruto. She remembered everything he had done to help her, and his friends. But she also remembered his parents, especially his mother. Closing her eyes she let out a breath before coming to an answer. "I don't believe he's ready to know. He does not even know a thing about his mother's family. I think he should know about the name he's lived with all his life, before learning about the name he was denied."

Reluctantly he nodded in agreement before opening his mouth again, "In that case, I guess there is only more thing for you and I to discuss."

"And that would be what, exactly?"

"How does one go about bringing a previously dead clan back to life in a Hidden Village?" The Namikaze asked before moving to hold a hand above one of the numerous seals on his right arm. In a small puff of smoke small slip of paper appeared before being caught. It was then carefully unfolded back to its original size before being slid across the desk towards Tsunade. The amber-eyed woman looked down at the sheet before turning around to read. As her eyes grew almost to the size of saucers the Namikaze spoke up, "I didn't know if a price would be involved, so I just put what I considered my family name worth."

"This…This is…Close to two billion ryo!" Tsunade exclaimed loudly, her voice causing tiny spider cracks in the window behind her. Tearing her gaze from the number to look back at the man she tried to form further words, but found she was speechless. That much money could cover the payroll of almost a full half of the entire military for an entire year, and still leave several million behind. He blinked owlishly before looking at back at the paper.

"I could add another half if you'd like." He said in a somewhat perplexed voice. Tsunade merely stared at the man, and for a brief moment wished she was thirty years younger.

(STNM)

_Konohagakure, Hokage Office_

"OWWWWWWWWW!" Uzumaki Naruto as he cradled his injured left arm while hopping up and down on his uninjured left foot. The left arm had been nailed by a less-powerful punch from Sakura, while the right foot was crushed by Ino bringing down her foot on it. Obviously she had yet to forget his completely involuntary reactions just days earlier. The spiky-haired Genin knew he hadn't forgotten the punishment she had handed him, that was for certain.

"Naruto," Sakura started in a tired voice while she kept her fist at the ready. "Just because Jiraiya-Sama brought you here earlier than anyone else, you don't get to sleep on your feet." Surrounding them were the other members of the Konoha Eleven who, for the most part, also chimed in their own assessment. Soon the pink-haired woman released her hold on her blonde teammate who quickly stepped out of Sakura's immediate reach. This had him bump shoulders with Ino and draw a murderous glare that had him return to his original position; which meant he was still in an overlapping field of potential pain delivered by two Tsunade-trained Kunoichi.

Still…he was in between two attractive women…_Damn it! That was an Ero-Sennin thought!_

The electric-blue eyed blonde mumbled out an apology below his breath while looking over the rest of the room's occupants. They were all just as bored as he was, although they did their best to hide it. Even Neji, with a face looking much like the ones on the Hokage Monument, purveyed the feeling of having something else planned that morning and displeased at missing out. Naruto also sensed that they were all waiting on something to happen to put a stop to the lack of activity. The blonde also knew full well that not one person would dare ask the question that was on their mind. A normal Shinobi would never do something so improper as to initiate dialogue with the Hokage after being summoned for an unstated purpose.

Thankfully for his friends, Naruto thought, he was far from being a normal Shinobi. He was about to say something guaranteed to get a reaction out of Tsunade when a click was heard. The sound drew the attention of everyone to the door, which was being opened from the other side. To the surprise of everyone already inside Tsunade herself stood just outside her office, Jiraiya, Shizune, Tonton, _another _Namikaze, and a familiar blue-skined swordsman trailing behind her. She had not even blinked before her amber eyes narrowed at the sight of her occupied workplace. "What are you all doing here?" Tsunade demanded in a voice uninterested in excuses. Naruto raised a finger to point directly at the ample-bosom kage before then turning to point at the chair, with over a dozen pairs of eyes following.

"Oh," Responded a voice from the person currently occupying the seat of the most powerful ninja in Konoha. The chair then rotated around so that the person was now facing the assembled troop. Arashi smiled at them smugly before raising his cup of coffee in a mocking salute. "I just wanted to see all your pretty faces one last time while enjoying a good wake-up drink." He then downed the last of his warm beverage before tossing it outside an open window behind him.

A low growl was all that was needed to get the youngest of the room to make space for Tsunade to storm her way towards the still smiling blonde man. Walking around the desk until she was standing on his right side, Tsunade spoke up in a voice that promised to make good on her threats. "Get off."

Staring up into the woman's eyes Arashi shook his head in the negative before gesturing to a point just in front of the desk. He then held up a hand so that everyone could see as he counted down. Once he had reached zero the blonde man loudly clapped his hands twice before a bright crimson and black light flashed through the room. A moment later, while they were blinded by the flash, the Kunoichi in the room were all felt up in some way or another.

As the light dissipated and their sight returned to normal, the women released a combined Killing Intent of titanic proportions as they glared kunai at the clone behind the desk. Arashi grinned victoriously at the men, before blowing a kiss to each of the women, and then leaping out the window, in quick succession while laughing manically the entire time. A second after the laughter abruptly stopped, Jiraiya was quick to jot down what he had just seen in his newest notepad. The original man the clone had been created from began clapping at the same time as the tall blue skinned man.

"Oi, I got dibs on this!" Jiraiya said as looked over his latest notes for any possible flaws.

The blonde Namikaze's clapping broke for a moment before continuing again, "I don't mind. Because, given the memories I just got from my clone, I'm about to win a bet, a bet where the conditions for a prize were never decided."

The Toad Sannin's head shot up at that before looking suspiciously towards the extra-dimensional Shinobi, "And what, dare I ask, is this prize?"

"You work for me as an employee in my future publishing company."

"What?"

"Isn't that the same guy who was in the desert?" Tenten asked Neji while indication the blue-skinned man.

"That's the blue Akatsuki guy who wanted to cut off my legs!" Naruto called out as he caught a good look of Kisame after he had turned his head in the direction of the Tenten and Neji.

"What is wrong with being blue?" Kisame retorted instinctively.

(STNM)

_Akatsuki Laboratory, Sangaku no Hakaba/Mountains' Graveyard_

Where…Am I? Were the thoughts of a man as he slowly regained consciousness. He tentatively began flexing the muscles throughout his body one at a time, and at a sluggish pace to keep his awareness secret. After a hellishly long wait he was satisfied that he could at least move. How did I know to do all that?

That was when he first felt a chill from beneath the skill all over his body, as well as the feeling of his lungs filled by something foul. It was at that point that he realized his entire body felt wet, and that he was almost weightless. His body soon began working at a much faster rate than before and forced him to open his mouth, the desperate need for air finally becoming apparent to him. Liquid soon began filling his lungs and he soon started to struggle wildly, the awareness he had recently gained becoming replaced by animalistic reactions.

His arms struck something solid and then he began pounding at whatever it was. There was a muffled sound of something before whatever he had been striking gave way to his assault. In an instant he felt sharp pricks of pain over his body as he landed on something and felt his entire body cool rapidly. His mouth opened and closed rapidly as he struggled to draw in a breath of air. Heaving heavily he opened his eyes for the first time and saw the liquid which had filled his lungs gushing out from his mouth in torrents.

For some immeasurable amount of time this continued until he felt nothing remained within his body. He became aware that his arms were holding himself above the strange liquid, which he could see was a faintly glowing green color, as well as how tired he felt. The arms gave out from under him and he soon found his face pressed into the liquid as his lungs expanded to take in the air he was drawing in with his ragged breathing. Using the last reserves of strength he could muster, the man forced himself onto his back.

He saw nothing, and for a brief moment felt a primal fear well up within him, before coming to the realization that he was surrounded by darkness. Turning his eyes around him, he picked out a faint outline as well as the sound of something dripping. It was tall, probably more than him, and still had a faint glow to it. Was I in that thing?

Something light and warm landed atop his chest. He reached out to touch it and was surprised by how soft it felt. Then his ears heard a low humming sound from above him. Looking up he saw a figure with bright red eyes looking down at him. The eyes held black marks within them. The Sharingan, a voice in the back of his head told him. The red-eyed figure nodded once before moving to a point on his left before crouching down. A hand soon grabbed his chin before turning his head to the right. Feebly he tried to push away the hand with his own left hand.

From the corner of his left eye the man saw a second hand moving towards it. He scrunched up his eyes, and clutched the soft object tighter in his right hand. His left eye was soon forcibly opened, and he saw the figure's red-eye spinning at a rapid pace before he heard a voice speaking up. "You're new name shall be Tobi. You will obey me, and only me. Never forget this." As the figure finished speaking, the voice from just moments earlier returned again only this time shouting 'Genjutsu', before the red-eyed figure vanished.

"That went much better than I thought it would," A male voice said as its owner looked down at the person he had just deposited on a bed. It was another man, although with several unique attributes. The entire right side of the man's face looked to be freshly bruised, while his left was a pale white. The man was also young, having the appearance of someone in their late teens. Across his face were several deep cuts from the glass shards he had fallen on. A pale-blue liquid leaked out from these small injuries before spreading out to coat his body. Slowly the cuts all healed leaving unscarred flesh, while the liquid was reabsorbed into his body. The young man had short black-spiky hair and was covered in blankets.

Humming once as he looked over the person a final time the red-eyed man turned to leave the room. Entering a room adjacent to the one previous, he smirked victoriously before his body began shaking with suppressed laughter. "I almost feel like I should thank Orochimaru for his work. In his search to stop his own death, he gave me the tools to bring life back to the dead."

He came to a halt in front of a casket-like machine. Peering into the machine he stared at its occupant; a woman clad in the attire of a Konoha Chunin, with purple markings on her cheeks, and short brown hair. She was surrounded by a dozen glowing kanji symbols within the casket, and the man's eyes could see the flow of chakra connecting each of the symbols to her body. "Your old friend is back, just as I promised you long ago. And as long as you remain alive he and those following him will never see whatever it is they have seen after their passing…Inuzuka Rin."

(STNM)

_Unknown Forest_

"Ugh…"Moaned a violet haired man as he slowly crawled over to a nearby stream. After pulling his mask down he dunked his head into the cold water. He kept his head under for a full minute before coming back up for air. Once he had pulled his mask over his face again, Hatake Tanshin slowly rose to his feet. He ignored the sudden feeling of vertigo and fought back the desire to empty his stomach. Aside from that however, he felt surprisingly great. He didn't feel injured, and his chakra reserves were at their peak. Except for his utter confusion about how he'd even wound up near a stream in the first place.

The Hatake man turned his body around to take in a brief overview of his new found surroundings. Looking to the sky he saw that his view was impaired by a treetop canopy. From behind that he could see that the sky was a bright blue, and that there were few clouds in it. As he tasted the air he was breathing in he noticed that there hadn't been any rain for several days.

Considering that his last memory had him surrounded by two dozen hostile Shinobi, surrounded by his dead escort, in the pouring rain he decided that the odds of him being in Ame were slim to none. As far as he knew the rain had never stopped for that long since the village's inception. Had he activated the sealing scrolls? As more and more recent events returned to him he determined the answer to very much be a yes.

"That would mean that this is Heaven, Hell, or another dimension…"Tanshin said to himself. "I don't see any beautiful women, or okay guys, flying with wings so it can't be Heaven. And it feels a bit too cool for Hell."

He suddenly felt a spike in chakra nearby before feeling the faint vibrations of a far off explosion. Looking slightly to his left he saw a plume of smoke rising up into the sky, along with a faint but pulsating light. Fire. "…That actually looks familiar."

Turning to fully face the far off smoke Tanshin quickly looked over his appearance. To his great surprise he'd only lost his brown cloak. His flak jacket looked almost brand new, and his scale suit looked normal. To his relief he still carried all seven of his own special kunai blades, and the sash they were placed on. Once again he felt another spike in chakra, although of a greater magnitude than the first. Closing his eyes he put both hands behind his neck before stretching his back. "Do I really want to waste time finding out what's going on?"

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Well, here it is. I honestly didn't think I'd be putting this up at all today. But then I thought 'why not' and figured I should start the New Year with an update. I apologize if some parts seem confusing to you. To be truthful, I won't be hurt if you say I made no sense at all here. I know there was a lack of action this chapter, but hopefully I balanced that out by pushing the plot further along this chapter. BTW, what do you think of Tanshin's rather brief summarization of what's been going on in the other dimension? <strong>

**I introduced a few new people in this chapter. Anyone who wants to see what Tanshin can do you'll have to wait for the next update. I read up on some unofficial elemental natures, and decided to give him a metal release. If anyone come's here saying that I did not come up with his combination of affinities, you're right. I can't remember where, but I know it was a discussion page regarding possible future affinities. Credit is given to the creator of that page. But please, don't leave a review saying that he seems overly powerful. He isn't, I've set some limits on his abilities. Anyways, I'll give you each three guess what the dojutsu he mentioned is. Interesting fact: I chose his name because of two different meanings for it. Tanshin can mean either 'sincerity', or ' away from home' in Japanese. As for his lizard, Yamori just means 'house lizard, gecko' and that fits what he does most of the time. He's going to be like those pocket dogs people keep.**

**Also, I came to a decision on how to handle the whole Tobi situation. Tobi is now, a reanimated and Genjutsued Obito. The 'Tobi' going around in the Manga at the moment also has a true identity here. I theorize that he is the first son of the Sage of the Six Paths. I mean if his dad is considered a God why couldn't he have had a way to live a long time, and why couldn't 'Tobi' learn it as well? Rin is also a live here. Although some of you might not like how she's basically a living batter for this fic's new Tobi at this point. Oh, I could also use some suggestions on what to call 'Tobi' here. **

**As you can see, the trio is now in Konoha. N Naruto is ridiculously rich as you've just seen. The Namikaze's here kept a record of all their accounts throughout the countries. I didn't include it, but let me say that before getting to his family safe house he made a few dozen clones and sent them to check up on the financial status of his family. Bla-bla-bla. If you're curious, Itari's going to be spending sometime in the abandoned district that used to belong to her clan there. **

**Next chapter well see a few more characters pop up, and a rather interesting Council session regarding the resurgence of the late Minato's 'illegitimate' son, as well as **_**another **_**living breathing Uchiha. The long awaited Akatsuki intro is also next chap, along with Tobi/Obito's official introduction. That pretty much sums up what happens next chapter. I'll make a point of responding to any questions you all leave me in the reviews this time. **

**Happy 2012 guys and gals!**

_**-SpartanCommando**_


	12. Knowing Things Can Suck

_**Chapter Twelve: Itari does some searching in the abandoned Uchiha District, while Naruto becomes the Namikaze pack mule. Namikaze also gets a new house, roomate, and servant. At the same time far away from Konoha; Tanshin investigates the strange chakra from last chapter, while Akatsuki's leader introduce's the organization's newest member.**_

**Special Thanks to DragonKnightRyu for being this story's beta reader.**

Disclaimer: I do not in any way shape or form own Naruto Shippuden, or anything unique to it. The show and manga are owned by Kishimoto-Massashi. I think I do own Namikaze Naruto though, or at least the one in this fiction since as of yet Naruto hasn't changed his name in the manga, and also Anko's snake summon. Tanshin is also one of my creations, along with some jutsu I made up. I do not own Uchiha Itari, both the name and her appearance belong to fellow author BigCC. The Fusion Sword belongs to the team who worked one FFVII: Advent Children and, just to be safe, Square Enix. Also, there may be parts of this story where I combine certain things from the English, and Japanese parts of Naruto.

"Normal Speech"

_Normal Thoughts_

'Human Speech' (Inside Mindscape)

'_Human Thought'_ (Inside Mindscape)

"_Lip Reading"_ (Not so often in this fic)

"_**Bijuu Speech"**_ (Outside Mindscape)

**-Bijuu Speech-** (Inside Mindscape)

'_**Bijuu Thought'**_

"**Summons Speech"** (With certain exceptions)

'**Summons Thoughts'** (With certain exceptions)

(STNM)

_Konohagakure, Uchiha District_

The first thing she noticed walking down the empty streets, was how unkempt everything was. Never once in her life had she seen the district look anything less than perfectly maintained. In her family everything had to look absolutely clean and spotless. The almost biological desire to impose their superiority to outsiders was so strong that it had risen above the clan alone. Their martial skill alone had no longer been enough; their very home had to symbolize just how serious the Uchiha Clan was about becoming as close to perfect as possible.

For once Itari felt the urge to simply leave the abandoned district alone. She felt reluctant to continue further in and see physical proof of what could one day be her Clan's fate. Still, she would not have reached where she was in life if she had been one who froze up once outside their comfort zones…Still. There was no _necessary_ reason to find her parent's home so soon.

Paying careful attention to the chipping paint of the Uchiha Fan painted on a door she strode off in the direction where she had her own home away from her parents. Along the way Itari closed her eyes and remembered how it usually sounded when she was walking home. Normally she would have been hearing the sounds of a few children here and there playing games with one another. She would have heard the gentle call of greetings given to her by cousins every so often which she would return with a slight smile. The sound of older men and women laughing would almost always be present no matter the time of day; veteran Shinobi and Kunoichi who had been forced to retire, or been fortunate enough to reach the old age and retire.

To her surprise the layout of the district was virtually identical to that of her own; aside from the lack of life that was. It had only taken ten minutes for her to come to a halt and open her eyes. Before her was the small home she had been living in by herself for the past five years. It had been a gift from her father, something to congratulate her on becoming Captain-Commander of the Black-Ops Division. It was simple and as far from extravagant as a small house could be.

She had actually waited until dinner was finished before walking over to hug her father that night.

Itari was unsurprised when the door fell apart as she opened it. Close to three years had gone by since the last Uchiha was even in the district; five more to that since there were more than two at any one time. She was however surprised to see that the house still looked lived in, at first glance anyway. A chair, a table, empty flowerpots, a stray pillow, and a small television set were still within the living room. As she entered she could see that it was the rest of the room that would tell someone that it had been sometime since a human being had been in. A layer of dust at least two inches looked to coat everything within sight. The pale blue paint was chipped all around, and in some parts peeled in long strips.

It looked _similar_ to what she would have had in her own living room. Except for the television, that is. When she felt like watching something she would have gone to do so with the rest of her immediate family. The closest thing to entertainment she had even owned had been her radio, and that was standard issue for any Shinobi. Itari did however wonder which of her family had lived in the home. Was it even someone she knew, or an Uchiha who did not exist in her dimension?

She walked further into the home and saw that there was no door to her left. The door was to her right instead. She also felt that something was off about the home, but put the thought away for the moment. Opening that door she saw that the kitchen was still there, or at least a table and refrigerator were, along with a door on the opposite side of the room. The only thing remaining then was the bathroom. A bathroom that had gone without a proper cleaning for Kami-alone knew how long.

That did not stop her from entering it however. Although the smell did lack for an appealing fragrance, Itari moved for the medical cabinet above a small sink. The Uchiha woman looked surprised at what looked like an indentation at the top right corner of the back. Carefully removing the bottles, she herself had kept explosive materials hidden here, Itari slowly reached to push against it. There was a slow click from a mechanism behind the cabinet, followed by the sound of moving glass.

Stepping away she closed the cabinet and looked towards where the mirror had once been. The glass had separated down the middle and moved to the sides. A small black notebook was within her sight now. She reached to grab it and saw that it was barely any larger than her palms. Itari shifted it in her hands. There was a very faint trace of someone's chakra signature on the black covering. That should have been impossible after so many years. _Unless_, she started, _a certain genjutsu was used._ Itari activated her Sharingan and waited patiently. Sure enough, red kanji symbols began to appear on the cover.

"That explains a few things." Itari said slowly as she read what she saw was a person's name. "Uchiha Shisui."

(STNM)

_Streets of Konoha_

"Why am I doing this?" Uzumaki Naruto demanded while carrying a large chest weighing twice his own weight. He was also carrying it on his back and without the use of charka as well.

From roughly ten paces in front of him, Namikaze Arashi looked over his shoulder to answer Naruto. "Doing what? Carrying my new chest, or carrying my new chest using just your physical ability?"

"Both." Naruto ground out as he dodged out of the path of a group of children chasing after a small yellow rubber ball.

"As an answer to the first, you need to remember that I am now the new Clan Head of the Namikaze. As such I can no longer be lowered down to performing such menial tasks, like carrying something, without demeaning my family's good name." He smiled thinly at Naruto before sneakily plucking an orange from a passing fruit vendor. "I must now delegate such demeaning labor to the lowest of the low in the Shinobi world; Genin, of which you still are one."

"But I can kick the ass of half the Chunin in the village already." Naruto grumbled dejectedly as a proverbial cloud hung over his head.

"And for the second, well I don't like it when people address me by a wrong name, which you also did in the Hokage's office, by the way." Arashi said, not hearing Naruto at all, as he quickly began peeling the ripe orange with his fingernails.

"I used your name!" Naruto defended himself instinctively. Tragically he raised himself to his full height, and was pulled backwards by the weight of the chest. He was saved from falling to the ground by a pair of hands catching the chest from the other side. Naruto felt himself be pushed forward and heard the distinctive popping sound associated with Kage Bunshin.

"No you didn't. You called me 'Naruto', not 'Arashi' like I said to." Arashi mumbled out in pieces, lines of orange juice trailing down his jaw as he devoured his stolen fruit hungrily.

"Why does that matter? You used both!"

"But you're already Naruto. I was trying to keep things from getting too confusing for some people, so I decided that legally I would be known as Namikaze Arashi." He then tossed the remains of his short snack into a dumpster to his left.

From behind him, Naruto snorted. "Like anyone with a working pair of eyes would get us confused."

"Good point." Arashi mused before turning fully to face Naruto. The younger teen stopped as well and looked suspiciously up at the older man, and yelped as a hand suddenly gripped one of his cheeks. "I'm clearly much more handsome than you are. Still, I can't deny that I'm not a bit envious about your whiskers. I met a lot of women who found things like these most…_intriguing_."

Naruto quickly backpedalled away from the man wide-eyed. Thankfully the cobalt-eyed man merely smirked once before turning around again. He then pointed dramatically into the air before marching off in the same direction as before. Naruto sighed once before he began trudging after the ever-unpredictable blonde. _Huh. Is this what the others felt like when I was younger? _

The two blondes made their way through the village streets without many other distractions. The only times they stopped were at the Ichiraku's ramen stand. There Naruto had been forced to watch as Arashi shamelessly tried to flirt with Ayame while eating four bowls of ramen tortuously slow. For some reason he didn't see Ayame's dad anywhere at all.

Arashi calmly paid for his latest meal, and left a tip behind that caused Ayame's eyes to briefly resemble stars. Naruto was happy to get a move on again; the sooner he brought the stupid chest wherever Arashi wanted it the sooner he could double back for some ramen of his own. As the two blondes drew farther away both could hear joyous shouting from behind them.

"Tell me about yourself." Arashi spoke up above the sound of the crowds just as Naruto was finishing a long string of creative curses he had overheard during his three year trip with Jiraiya. The question caused the younger of the two men to narrow his blue eyes suspiciously at the back of the black Suna flak jacket.

"What do you want to know?" The blonde teen asked as he guessed the next sentence to come from the Namikaze's mouth.

"Things like your likes, dislikes, hobbies, dreams, etcetera."

"I knew you were going to say that!" Naruto said with trace of wistfulness laced into his tone. The Uzumaki remembered the day when Kakashi had asked the same of the newly formed Team Seven years ago. Good times. Sadly, his trip down memory lane was cut short as Arashi again spoke up.

"I don't care about any prophetic-notions you have kid, just tell me already."

Naruto felt his brow twitch in irritation at being called 'kid' by the Yondaime's son once again. He was a Shinobi, eighteen, and been exposed to a 'Super Pervert' far too long to be a kid for Kami's sake! Making a mental note to get even, Naruto answered, "I like being a Shinobi, ramen, the color orange, learning new jutsu, and every one of my friends. I dislike the Akatsuki, Oto-ninja, perverts, people who can't take a joke, scary women, not having a never-ending supply of ramen in my apartment, and you."

"My heart is heavy with sorrow born of your hurtful words." Arashi interrupted as he made a scene of looking quite pained while holding a hand above his heart. "I think you're wrong about the scary women thought. I feel that's more of a fear, one rightly justified."

"Oi! Don't interrupt me!" Naruto shot back quickly before continuing, "I take care of my own little home garden as a hobby, and for my dream…I have two. One is to become Hokage just like I told the Sandaime, and the other is to save one of my closest friends."

"You and the Sandaime were close?" Questioned Arashi, who was not at all surprised to hear that the longest serving Hokage knew Naruto personally. Keeping the identity of his family away from a newborn child was a decision that would have weighed heavily on the old man; playing the part of a surrogate grandfather was certainly up his alley.

A bittersweet smile appeared on Naruto as he nodded, "The Old Man was the closest thing to family I had growing up. He was…Pretty damn awesome, even if he was a really old pervert."

"That's it?" Arashi stated in surprise. His eyes shifted to look into a nearby window where he saw a look of confusion on Naruto's face. "You aren't going to say anything else about the only other Hokage you knew personally? If the Sandaime was the closest thing to family when you were a snot-nosed-whiny-little-runt-of-a-wannabe-ninja, I'd expect there to be more to say about him."

"The Old Man _was _a Hokage. If you really are the son of the Yondaime, then you'd know that's all that needs to be said." Naruto responded poignantly and without any trace of annoyance. Arashi was surprised at the flash of annoyance that he felt at the jab at his heritage, at least until he fully processed that Naruto hadn't meant anything he'd just said as an insult. "Did you know him to?"

"Huh?"

"In your dimension-" Was as far as Naruto got before Arashi had appeared behind him, feet planted on the chest. The younger blue-eyed blonde impressively managed to remain on his own two feet for all of three seconds before his face was linked with the street pavement. When he had dislodged his face from the short indent it had made in the ground, his face was bleeding and at least one tooth was missing. "What the Hell!" He exclaimed loudly, blood flying out from his mouth, and Arashi who was now belly-first on the street as well.

Paying absolutely no attention whatsoever to the perturbed looks directed at him by passer-byers, Arashi cradled his chin in one hand while the other was waving a finger at Naruto. "Bad-bad Fishcake, almost revealing things he shouldn't be speaking of in a public venue full of potential eavesdroppers. No ramen for you now."

"Teme!"

"Is this a bad time?" A voice asked from above the two blondes. Once again Naruto found his face leaving a deeper indent, courtesy of Arashi grabbing him by the hair and slamming him back into the ground. As the Genin flailed about trying to obtain some leverage to lose the grip, Arashi looked up to see his blue skinned friend, Hoshigaki Kisame. The oddly colored Kiri Swordsman had a trio of large scrolls under each arm, Samehada still resting on his back.

"Yes. You know where to go. I'll see you in about forty minutes. Do tidy up, by the way." Using the hand that was holding his chin up, Arashi made a dismissive gesture to the Kiri-nin. Grumbling under his breath, the man obliged managed a gesture with a single finger before leaving with a Shunshin. Without showing any sign of it, Arashi was vehemently cursing himself for hoping that the lone ROOT agent had ceased their pursuit.

Then again the only time he'd ever lost one tailing him was after killing them. ROOT was like that. _Danzo_ was like that to.

He would deal with it however, at a time of his choice and not this world's take on one of his teachers. The Namikaze man could make more than one assumption from his friend's signal. First and foremost was that Shimura Danzo, the _Shinobi_ to Shinobi, knew a new player had forced themselves onto the political stage. Two, anyone he had acknowledged for more than ten seconds would be watched as well for any inclination to possible correspondence. If this Danzo was half a manipulative ass as the one who had taught him then Arashi could expect to have all Namikaze assets looked over _off-the-record_ by a number of either brainwashed or bribed informants across the Elemental Nations. Arashi also had the feeling that the ROOT were also following Kisame, no doubt preparing for a possible visit by Uchiha Itachi.

All in all Danzo knew nothing overly dangerous or damning to him at the moment, as long as he wasn't in any mood to go springing for an extravagant interior decorator. He did not even spare a sliver of worry for Itari. Both he and Kisame were doing their absolute best to keep attention off of Itari by being as visible as possible. Ignoring their joint efforts, his Uchiha fiancé was more careful than him and would not have been seen unless she herself wanted to.

Thus the only question on his mind at the moment was just how to handle Danzo. His training under the man urged him to just wait for ROOT Commander to approach him, but that would signal to Danzo that he could be controlled to a degree. At the same time Arashi doubted that a simple confrontation with the agent tracking him would have any positive benefit. The best he could hope to earn was the agent's death not to be explosive-based, but still put Danzo on the defensive and against any form of cooperation with him.

That would not do. Arashi needed Danzo's network to better track down Orochimaru and his forces, as well as the Akatsuki. There was no doubt in his mind that the old Commander had some form of contact with either group, more than likely using them as a third-party internationally. To be honest he would have been surprised to learn that at least one person wasn't with either organization on Danzo's orders and feeding ROOT a steady stream of information.

As all this went on inside the Namikaze's head, Naruto would find out that the older blonde had a habit of tightening his grip when in deep thought.

(STNM)

_Treetops of a forest _

Tanshin caught the scent of ash and blood breezing past him as he rapidly closed in on the source of the large chakra surge he had detected minutes after…Arriving wherever he was. As he drew nearer the Hatake man could detect numerous smaller chakra burst concentrated directly between him and his target. In other words, he was about to run straight into a battle between two forces of almost-certainly life threatening Shinobi. He chose almost-certainly because even if one side _was_ Konoha he would have to return to the village, and if he returned to the village after not informing anyone of his plans…

He hoped Jiraiya could at least allow him a quick merciful death as punishment rather than have his parents come for him.

His chakra-enhanced ears picked up on the sound of clashing steel and a shout of pain. Tanshin's feet landed on a large branch where he chose to remain. Collecting his chakra he pricked his right thumb on one of the blades hooked to his sash before going through a number of hand seals. Wordlessly he turned to face body of the tree before slamming his hand onto it. A second later a brown lizard with an unusually long tail appeared, the tail wrapped around his forearm.

The lizard blinked its obsidian eyes slowly before hissing in annoyance, "What the hell did you do, Human? This forest feels nothing like that storm-drain of a village you last summoned me in."

"Sukauto," Tanshin said in response before shaking his arm. The brown lizard in turn tightened its hold on the arm by digging its claws into skin without drawing blood. "I have a job for you."

"I vehemently refuse to associate my scales with anything remotely similar to the duties which you assigned Yamori." Sukauto said briskly, although with a more noticeable lisp than most lizard summons. Unlike most of Tanshin's lizard summons Sukauto disliked most anything related to humans, including language. He only obeyed Tanshin because he had proven himself in combat against the two great Chief Lizards.

"Watch your tongue," Tanshin threatened him lightly. Yamori was his most common summon, and one of his great friends. Even if he often had the lizard house sit for him. "Your new job right now is to go and scout out that." Here the violet-haired man turned his arm to face the direction he had been heading towards. "There seems to be a battle going on in that direction as well. Ignore those Shinobi, I'll deal with them myself. Go around them and find the _real_ battle and report back to me, understand?"

"Like a hatchling." Sukauto confirmed briskly.

"Then move." Here Tanshin turned and threw the arm the lizard had wrapped itself around upwards. In the blink of an eye Sukauto's tail had completely released his hold on Tanshin's arm, and the brown lizard summon was sent flying into the sky. His legs were pressed against a scaly underbelly until he had reached the apex of the throw before kicking out and revealing a layer of skin that stretched to catch the air beneath him. Sukauto flapped his new wings once to test the currents before stilling. Using his tail to turn the direction and circle once above Tanshin, he took off in a direction to avoid the nearby battle before then turning to glide towards his destination.

Tanshin stood still for a minute as he tracked the path of his aerial reconnaissance summon. Once he was sure that Sukauto had not been spotted by some group of Shinobi scattered around the forest he smiled thinly beneath the green cloth over his lower face. "If he ever changed his personality, I might just keep him around more often," Tanshin spoke out loud as he brushed his thumb against the leg of his scale-suit, removing the now dried blood, and then leapt back towards the battle.

Less than three minutes later he was crouched down behind a tree above a small valley. Beneath him a river, likely joined at some point to the stream he had his face under earlier, cut through the valley and carried with it a handful of bodies. Farther up the river he saw twenty ninja engaged in combat. Curiously he saw that the larger force, twelve in total, was made up of a group wearing forehead-protectors adorned with a musical note of all things. _Who the hell are these clowns? _Facing off against the unknown ninja were two teams of Takigakure ninja, although they were clearly losing as he saw one take a kunai to the knee.

The ground shook faintly as the sound of another explosion rocked the valley. Tanshin saw a Taki-nin take their eyes of an opponent to throw a heated glare in the direction before barely avoiding a barrage of senbon from a duo of the musical note ninja. As the battle continued on Tanshin saw the Taki force try and fail to break past the encircling hostile several times. His brown eyes narrowed ever so slightly as he noticed the controlled desperation he saw in their behavior. If he was right, and he probably was, then the Takigakure Shinobi had another force near the explosion.

Still, he couldn't let that happen. Taki was one of the smaller villagers at war with Konoha and thus the ninja down there were his enemy. Tanshin knew that there was a chance he was in another dimension, a dimension where the war between the two villages was nonexistent, but old habits were known to die rather hard. And Taki did owe him more than a few lives for the ninja he'd lost because of them. Besides he had a perfect solution to keeping any possible peace: he would just have to make sure there were no witnesses. The same went for the other foreign group of ninja.

In the event that either of the two sides weren't warring with his village, and their Shinobi didn't attack him, then he'd find some other use for them. As one of Konoha's top deep cover operatives he had infiltrated and then manipulated numerous bands of Nukenin. Tanshin closed his eyes and channeled a steady amount of chakra just above his skin. He formed the Ram seal and held it in place. "Ninpo: Sukēru Yoroi (Ninja Art: Scale Armor)."

The scale-suit he wore glowed faintly as the scales began rubbing against each other. They expanded in size and _moved _to full envelop all his skin and stopping only at the top of his facemask. The glow faded away and showed the violet haired man garbed in a pale green scaled armor. Rolling his joints and muscles at the familiar initial discomfort of the scales, especially where his sandals pushed down on his ankles, becoming _actual scales_, Tanshin let his left arm hang loosely at his side. Concentrating he had the scales open up above his wrist and caught the kunai that came out.

Holding the kunai he again formed a hand seal, this one the Snake, with his right hand. "Kinton: Seikatsu Burēdo (Metal Release: Life Blade)." The blade pulsed with unseen chakra as he jabbed it up to his fingers into the ground. He felt his chakra flow through the earth beneath him, the charge in the air, and the rising temperature. Tanshin then rose up from his position on the ground; his weapon coming up from the ground with him. He looked up and down the length of the former kunai which was now a blade similar in length to a katana. In the faint rays of sunlight breaching the tree tops, the added metal took on a green shine to it.

Looking towards the still battling group of Shinobi Tanshin saw that the Taki side had removed two more enemies at the cost of one of their own; the one he first saw paying more attention to the source of the explosion rather than senbon needles. He could see that both sides were growing more and more tired. Unseen beneath the scaly face mask on his face Tanshin smiled a bloodthirsty smile that would make his mother proud as he readied himself to fight. Ten tired _music _Shinobi against him? Three minutes at the most since he would avoid using any of his Ninjutsu. And if the Taki side got involved as well…Two minutes and thirty seconds _with_ his Ninjutsu.

With that thought fresh in his mind, the man outside forces called Steel Blood descended onto a new battlefield.

(STNM)

_Amegakure, Tower of Pein_

Uchiha Madara was without a doubt the epitome of the Sharingan wielding Clan. He was gifted with intelligence to obtain innumerable victories against rival Clans during the old days. And not just on the battlefield; the Uchiha had enough influence to force the Damiyo's hand on several occasions thanks to his political affinity. In combat he was forever counted among the greatest of Shinobi, for his power, his name carrying a reverence reserved almost solely for deities in life. He left behind scars in the surface of the planet itself such as the Valley of the End.

_It is a good enough name to take as any_, thought a man hidden by dark tiger-striped mask and a large robe as he waited atop the tallest spire in Amegakure no Sato. The tower he was standing on was high enough that he could run a hand through the clouds if he was ever possessed by such a juvenile fancy. Not unlike what the person behind him was doing, in fact.

"Otōsan this is so cool! The clouds are so wet!"

"Tobi, silence yourself."

"But the clouds Otōsan!"

"_Tobi_." The man, Madara, said curtly. Behind him he could hear the rustle of fabric as Tobi continued to be fascinated by the clouds, simply without vocalizing his every thought. He wore an orange-spiraled mask but the short spiky black hair and slashed Konoha hitai-ate strapped to his wrist revealed him to be the same person whom Madara had brought back to life with aid from his prisoner. _The first of many such people_, Madara thought morbidly. He already had the bodies stored away to be reanimated after all. All that was needed were Shinobi and Kunoichi to donate their very life force to power these corpses.

It was unfortunate then that he had no way of finding these people. Orochimaru had only identified one person whom his research found to be a possible match before his desertion from Akatsuki and near total annihilation of his work. In the seven years after her capture Madara had not found anyone else who carried the right genetic makeup found in Inuzuka Rin.

He blinked once behind the mask he wore before three other Akatsuki members appeared. The one in the center had orange hair, purple ringed eyes, and multiple piercings on his face. Standing on his right was a beautiful woman, Madara was old but not too old to stop appreciating that quality, with blue hair. She had a single piercing beneath her lip and an origami flower in her hair. On the opposite side of the center man was someone who looked like a monster. His body was black on one half, white on the other, and a plant sprouting around his head.

"I take it," Began the orange haired man, "That is to become Sasori's replacement as Deidara's partner?" The 'that' was still trying to grab the clouds while the new arrival spoke. "He is not what I expected you to have chosen."

Madara hummed before responding, "It is to be called Tobi, and you would be correct. However do not be mistaken Pein. I assure you that Tobi is more than qualified, a fool or not."

"Tobi is not a fool!" Interjected the orange masked man as he quickly came to stand by Madara. He gave the trio a thumbs up before enthusiastically proclaiming, "Tobi is a good boy!"

"…I like him." Zetsu's white half said in the short silence that followed. His other side also made his opinion known, "**I don't care.**"

The woman, Konan, silently appraised the figure as well. He was now directly in front of Zetsu and shooting questions off fast enough that she had to struggle to catch them. The questions themselves were more than simple enough to answer without much thought, but possessed a sort of childish innocence that the woman admitted to missing lately. Tobi would be interesting to have about for a few days at the very least. She tilted her head to her left and towards Pein, who caught her sign of agreement easily.

"Zetsu," Pein spoke up monotonously, for a God need not speak with any mortal inflections when he desired to be heard. "Deidara has nearly fully gained the use of his arms. Go introduce the two, and make sure that if Deidara tries to kill him that he is forbidden from using his explosives."

"Can Tobi get his ring first?" Tobi asked hopefully before Zetsu put a hand on his shoulder and Shunshined the pair away. Now alone, Ame's God and Angel pair stared down at the stripe patterned mask of Akatsuki's chief benefactor. The man in question had his hands hanging by his sides and peered at them in turn from behind his mask with a red orb.

Madara moved for the first time since taking up the space he now stood upon, tilting his head back to catch a brief glimpse of what he knew to be the sudden behind the dark clouds. His head remained like that as he then asked, "How has the playing field been changed?"

"New enemies, it would seem, and potentially problematic ones at that." Konan responded to the question. It was beneath Pein to answer most questions and the female Akatsuki knew what kind those were. "Itachi and Kisame each encountered a separate individual while utilizing the Shōten no Jutsu (Shapeshifting Technique) to stall for more time to finish the Ichibi's extraction, which the Kazekage seems to have somehow survived."

"Hm," Madara said simply. His head returned to a level position once more, "Do I detect a trace of suspicion in your tone, Konan?"

"Of course not, but I do believe you would be the one to know of any surviving Uchiha women."

"…An Uchiha _woman_?" Madara whispered, his interest fully directed towards Konan's words.

The woman shrugged slightly before responding, "Or a woman carrying transplanted eyes like that of the Copy-Ninja. Itachi stated in his brief encounter that the woman was a member of Konoha's ANBU Black Ops division, a Captain by her cloak, and that she carried fully matured Sharingan eyes. She also knew enough of how to use them to see through his Genjutsu, and was able to work in conjunction with Hatake Kakashi to immobilize Itachi's puppet long enough for it to be destroyed."

Madara's eyes narrowed into slits as he digested the new information. He knew for a fact that there was no possibility of this woman being born to the Uchiha Clan. Both Itachi and he had wiped out the entire Clan to the very last, except for young Sasuke. His research on the dojutsu itself imparted to him the knowledge that having two Sharingan implants would be unfeasible. Implanted dojutsu, for the most part, needed to remain active full-time and using them was a delicate matter. Madara theorized that the cause of this permanent state was a direct result of many dojutsu, like the Sharingan, needing to be awakened under specific conditions and not present at birth like the Byakugan.

The amount of chakra that would be necessary to keep a pair of implanted Sharingan active would be massive; enough that someone like the legendary Sharingan no Kakashi would only be able to evenly engage low-Chunin level opponents for a few minutes at most before fully exhausting their reserves. Only ninja with Jinchuriki-level chakra stores could off-set the drain, and he would have known about any such person long ago. The only possible way for the ANBU woman to make good use of the fully matured eyes would be for Uchiha blood to be flowing through her veins.

"A bastard half-blood then," Madara growled out as fisted his hands in controlled anger. That was the only possible explanation. The stoic personality of Itachi was very much common among the Uchiha but not as much as outsiders thought. There was always a black sheep or two present in the Clan, the records Zetsu brought him on Tobi's early childhood was proof enough of that, and were generally estranged from the Clan. They were less inclined to behave traditionally in most ways, including children.

There was no law or order that restricted Uchiha from producing offspring outside of the Clan. Indeed it was encouraged to a lesser extent so as to keep the risks of inbreeding low. It was _keeping_ any such child that was taboo. The stance of the Clan was that the children would be declared legitimate only if they were raised in a traditional Uchiha household. If an Uchiha was discovered to have kept a half-blood child secret, well then…The Police Force was Uchiha. _Obviously someone was keeping their illegitimate whelp better hidden than most_, Madara angrily decided. His rage was partially relieved with a snarl as he ordered Konan, "The other _problems._"

Konan gave the robed man a withering glare before she responded. "The man Kisame encountered actually identified himself. 'Kazuma Arashi' poses perhaps the greater danger to our goals of the three however."

"Why." Madara did not ask this time; his tone showed that he would not allow Konan the opportunity to refuse an answer. Pein did not miss this threat and readied himself to defend his only living friend.

"Kisame described the man as the second coming of the Yellow Flash, in appearance and ability."

(STNM)

_Konohagakure, Namikaze Mansion_

Arashi decided that he would have to find to buy himself a camera as soon as possible. With his feet resting atop the ceramic-topped wooden office desk the Namikaze was smiling wickedly as he leaned back and into the black leather office chair. The chair was perhaps one of the most expensive items that he had seen since setting foot within the long abandoned Namikaze Mansion. It was a true sign of how much Minato had detested paperwork that he had attempted to lessen his suffering by having a good chair in his office. It really was a good chair to; Arashi was practically sinking into it and felt like he could even sleep in it.

Lying on his back, neck propped up by a small pillow in a shark-decorated sleeve, Kisame could be found on a crème-colored couch reading up on the history of Kirigakure in this dimension. Samehada was resting on a pile of several large pillows and making a strange humming sound that it made when sleeping. The man's grey flak jacket was hanging on a stand behind the couch, along with both Arashi's white trench coat and black flak jacket.

The third person in the room was busy opening and then closing his mouth repeatedly as he tried to form a cohesive sentence. Finally Naruto was able to collect his thoughts to sum them up in the most educated way possible, "That's my stuff."

"Are you sure?" Arashi questioned as he started to fumble through the cabinets of the desk. He made a sound of pleasant surprise as he found a half full bottle of Lightning Water and a pair of saucers. Cautiously he set the bottle down and went about dusting a saucer off.

"Yes I'm sure! That's my mattress, that's my table, and that's the old pot for my little garden!" Naruto cried out less shocked and more irritated as he pointed at the aforementioned items atop an unfurled scroll and the two still sealed scrolls on either side. "Why's my stuff here in this office?"

"Oh that's an easy question for once." Arashi said as his hands set down the saucer and reached for the bottle. Within seconds the saucer was half filled with Lightning Water. The sound of the liquid had caught Kisame's attention, and his eyes gleamed with joy at seeing the strong drink on the desk. Arashi saw this and reacted by lifting his saucer up in a mock toast to the Kiri-nin. "I am soon to be a Clan head in a Hidden Village, as you already know. Traditionally all clans have at least one servant to assist the Clan head with day-to-day things such as keeping track or records, cleaning the floors, preparing meals if there is no kitchen staff, etc. This servant is also required to live in the Clan compounds if requested by the Clan head." Arashi's eyes moved to lock with Naruto's own cobalt blue as he brought his saucer closer to his lips, noticing the growing look of worry in the teen's eyes. "Tsunade and I negotiated on purchasing your services to fulfill this role. You're my servant now." Shooting the younger blonde a victorious smirk Arashi emptied his saucer of its contents in a single gulp. He allowed his body to shiver as a sudden tingling sensation flooded his system and strange warmth latched to his heart and lungs. Good stuff.

"You _bought _me!" Naruto shouted out in a mix of outrage, disbelief, and betrayal. But mostly outrage. Strange; he didn't expect this version of himself to know the Academy Instructor signature 'Big Headed' jutsu. Arashi made a note of finding out who had taught him that.

"Yeah, I bought you. You are now under my power, a living being whose sole purpose is to do what I see fit. If needed, you will also die in my stead." Arashi said this with a menacing glint to his eyes and smirk still in place. "Oh and do feel some pride Fishcake. You were worth a whole two-hundred thousand ryo. The Hokage seems to like you for some reason since my starting price was five."

Naruto sputtered at hearing that he had a _price _at all. Kisame calmly turned the page of his book before adding in his own ryo. "Oi, Arashi. Since he's going to be living here to, may I order him around as well? The Seven Swordsman had their own group of servants you know."

"Of course Sempai, you didn't even need to ask." Arashi said as the tingling soon became something akin to an extended burst of static inside his body. He had to suppress the unmanly laughter that would have come from feeling his insides tickled. "You'll be staying in the fifth room I showed you on the second floor. You remember right, the one with the balcony and the view of the Yamanaka Estate? With the right equipment you might get to see your Hime changing for bed or taking a bath."

"Go to Hell you bastard!" Naruto yelled loudly as his anger intensified to the point where Arashi prepared to avoid a Ōdama Rasengan. Quickly the Namikaze man had taken out and tossed the Lightning Water toward Kisame; it would be a shame to lose such an exquisite drink, desk, and chair all at once after all. "I'd rather deal with the Fox for a whole week than be your servant! I'm out of here!"

"I'll pay you ten-thousand ryo a month, in addition to what I did with the Ichiraku's Ramen Stand." Arashi still had his victorious smirk as Naruto stopped in his tracks, back towards the Namikaze. "Don't be a little brat and turn this down. Genin get paid the lowest when it comes to dividing up anything earned for C and above ranked missions. Just consider being my Clan's servant a part-time job, something to earn a bit more cash when not on missions. Heck, I think I'll even pay you something while you're on missions too."

"…What did you do with the Ichiraku's?"

"In case you forgot, those squeals of joy coming from the lovely Ayame and her less attractive father? They weren't just from me leaving them a generous tip." Arashi set his feet back down on the floor before pushing the chair back and standing up, his hands pressed against the desk's top. "I also took the liberty of setting you and myself up with a tab. A hundred-thousand ryo's worth actually for the two of us."

Naruto stayed where he stood for a moment longer before continuing on out. Interestingly, when he slammed the door shut it was much gentler that what Arashi had predicted. "Well, I think he's considering it." Abruptly all trace of emotion vanished from his face. His left hand moved to one of the numerous seals on his right arm to arm himself with a single tri-pronged kunai blade. The electric-blue eyes turned to look at his blue-skinned companion as the red shirted man stepped around the chair. "Anyone aside from Naruto, Itari, or the Hokage tries to enter I want them disabled."

Kisame nodded as he set the book aside on a nearby coffee table and moved to a sitting position. "Finally going to get that guy tracking us off our backs? Bout damn time; I was getting tired of letting some Konoha ninja go unpunished for that." Kisame blinked before looking around the room. "Freaking Namikaze and Uchiha! Why do they always leave me alone when I'm about to say something to them?"

**AN: **_**If you guys want to know a bit more about my implant idea, here's my explanation. Let us use the obvious example of implanted use, Kakashi. In this story Kakashi for example could in theory will his Sharingan to deactivate right after receiving it from Obito, but because he was not of Uchiha blood he would not be able to reactivate it at will, or if he ran out of chakra and the eye shuts down because of that. In time the eye would have become permanently attached to his body, and the risk of it deactivating because of a lack of ample chakra nonexistent, but it would still require a constantly channeled amount of chakra to keep at top level. And of course, the problem with trying to reactivate it is always there.**_

_**I know I promised that I'd get in the Council Meeting this chapter and I'm sorry if you were excited for that. This chapter was already getting close to what I like as my max word-count and the Council meeting would have added in 1000-2000 extra words possibly. At the same time I did follow through with the Akatsuki intro. I'll be interested to see what you guys think the Oto guys Tanshin saw fighting Taki happen to be there for. All I can say is that I really am enjoying the whole fight I've got planned for him next chapter. Oh, and Arashi's as well. **_

_**Also, I gotta say I'm sorry about not posting in a good while. The College Application process was one troublesome and nerve wracking time in my life, the like which I hope I never have to go through again. Then there's this whole new girl I'm interested that's causing me a whole lot more stress. Seriously, I'm worrying over a sophomore as I'm about to enter College. Whatever, this is also going to be another long wait between this and my next post. Mass Effect 3 comes out in less than three days at the time of this writing, so I expect that to suck up a ton of my life now.**_

_**So yeah. Hope to see some of you in the multiplayer if you gotta 360. My gt's on my profile page if you're interested and want to try and save the galaxy from a Reaper invasion with me. **_

_**-SpartanCommando.**_


End file.
